


We're Friends

by CelestialGay



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Assumed Relationship, Christmas, F/F, Fluff, Gay, Pining, Slow Burn, bed sharing, lots of people think theyre dating, they interact with a kid for a bit its cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2019-09-14 05:49:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16907286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialGay/pseuds/CelestialGay
Summary: Everyone is convinced The Doctor and Yaz are dating except The Doctor and Yaz.





	1. Sleepover

* * *

“Mum wants to know if your girlfriend’s coming round on Christmas.”

Yaz had been perched on her bed reading a book the Doctor had leant her, it was a children's book, which is what lead her to ask about it when Yaz had found her in the library reading a very worn out copy.

_“Is it a very sad book, Doctor?” Yaz had leant over the back of the purple sofa behind her friend, peering at the writing on the dog eared pages_

_“Not at all! It's brilliant! Why?”_

_“You just looked a bit sad, that's all,” concern drew a line between Yaz’s eyebrows and the Doctor looked down at the book in her hands_

_“Yeah, I probably did.”_

_“Why?” Yaz faltered a bit “I mean, if you don't mind me asking.”_

_The Doctor turned to face her now, shifting her body around on the couch and resting an arm over the back, her face coming to rest very near Yaz’s. Yaz gulped, trying to remain calm in such close proximity, she inhaled the coconutty scent of The Doctor’s shampoo._

_“‘’course I don't mind, Yaz.” The Doctor looked at her in such a strange way sometimes, it made Yaz’s chest clench a bit._

_“My friend wrote it, and I- well it reminds me a lot of her, like shes talking to me almost, I feel like I'm holding a piece of her.” The Doctors hazel eyes shone in the soft library lighting and Yaz reached out a comforting hand towards her elbow._

_“You should borrow it Yaz!” The Doctor blinked and her eyes went back to normal, jumping up from the couch and turning to shove the book into Yaz’s outstretched hand, “It’s a good one, you’ll like it. Bring it back when you're done.” and she was gone, mumbling something about the TARDIS engines, leaving Yaz standing behind the sofa holding the old book._

 

“What?” Yaz closed the book gently, leaving her finger between the pages to mark her spot. She looked up at her sister who was hanging off the door frame and looking at her with a very smug grin on her face.

“Your girlfriend? Blonde, weird, wears a long coat?” Sonya had an evil glint in her eye, one Yaz recognised very well.

Yaz was a police officer, she knew how to keep her expression entirely impassive, she had also been dealing with Sonya for years and was experienced at not letting on anything to her sister. She could totally do this. Activate acting.

“The Doctor’s not my girlfriend.”

Sonya rolled her eyes “Sure then, is your _friend_ coming round on Christmas?” she put too much stress on the word ‘friend’ but Yaz chose to ignore it.

“I don't know, I’ll ask her.” Yaz buried her face back into the book, hoping her sister would leave before the heat she could feel creeping up her neck could seep into her cheeks.

Thankfully, Sonya used her leverage on the door frame to swing her body around and head back down the hall, calling to their mum on the way. Yaz flopped back onto her mattress and took a few deep breaths. _Your girlfriend._ Dammit Sonya.

“URRGH” Yaz dropped the book next to her and pulled her pillow out from behind the back of her head to cover her face. _Stupid Sonya. Stupid feelings._

She lay for a minute before folding her pillow back over and returning to the book. It really was pretty good, and if there was something Yaz needed in that moment it was a good distraction.

 

“Yaz! Tea time!” Yaz’s mum called down the hall an hour or so later, Yaz pulled the hair tie from her wrist and tucked it into the her place in the book before putting it down on her nightstand and swinging her legs over the side of her bed. “Coming!” She called back, heading down the hall.

“When’s The Doctor coming round for tea again, sweetheart?” Najia looked over the table as Yaz slid into her seat, a sly glint in her eye.

“Uh, I don’t know?” It felt like a trap but Yaz couldn't quite figure out how exactly.

“I hope it’s soon, I like her.” Her dad remarked casually. Yaz narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Whats going on?” Everyone seemed very interested in their food suddenly, Sonya picked at some potatoes as their parents pushed their vegetables around, trying to act nonchalant.

“What do you mean Yaz?” She could swear her mums voice went up an octave. 

“You’re being weird.”

“We’re just wondering, aren't we allowed to be interested in our daughters life?” she was doing that mum thing. Yaz rolled her eyes internally.

“Yes but you’re being weird about it.”

“Yaz” Her dad said in his ‘we know you took the cookie so why not just admit it and save us the trouble’ kind of voice. He put down his fork and leaned towards her slightly over the table. “You know we don’t have any problems with you liking girls, so why don’t you just tell us what's going on?”

“What are you talking about?” Her family could be so cryptic sometimes.

“You and The Doctor?” her mum prompted, everyone was staring at her now and she could feel her cheeks heating up, they couldn't know about her huge gay crush surely? She thought she’d been hiding it so well.

“We’re friends” Her cheeks were definitely going to turn red in a second, she could feel heat creeping up her neck again.

“Are you sure about that? You know you can tell us anything, you don't have to hide it” her mum kept pushing.

“Please can you just drop it mum? I’m not seeing The Doctor, I told you before.”

“Okay, you can tell us when you're ready then love.”

“We’re friends!”

“Sure you are.” Sonya muttered under her breath. That was probably as over as it was going to get so Yaz decided to let it go. Picking battles and all.

 

It was a few days after the dinner incident that Yaz crept into her flat around 2 am, she’d been out with the Doctor and they had been chased through some kind of hedge maze by some very large green mice. The hedge corridors kept moving of their own accord. It had taken them ages to find the TARDIS and when they did they’d had to hack it out of the vines that were seemingly trying to absorb it into the maze. Yaz was sweaty and covered in bits of leaves from the hedges, all she wanted to do was go to bed and sleep for three years. She pushed the door open as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake her family. She inched it closed behind her and pulled off her shoes in the hallway, balancing them precariously on top of the others that were piled high on the shoe rack. Just as she turned to head towards her bedroom there was a quiet knock on the door. She tiptoed back quickly towards it, frowning. Who would be knocking at 2 am?

The doorknob was cool against her fingertips and she cracked the door open just enough to see the person on the other side.

“Yaz?” A hazel eye appeared in the gap between the door and the frame, pressed up against the wood. 

“Doctor?” Yaz whispered, opening the door further to reveal the blonde alien, hands stuffed sheepishly into the pockets of her long coat. 

“Hi!” The Doctor beamed at her from the other side of the threshold, she spoke much too loudly and excitedly for 2 am. 

“Shhh! Doctor my family are asleep!” Yaz whispered, hoping The Doctor would follow suit. 

“Oh, sorry” She whispered this time. Yaz melted a bit at the concerned look on The Doctors face as she peered past Yaz's shoulder, trying to make sure she hadn’t disturbed anyone.

“It’s okay, I just don’t want to wake anyone, is everything alright?” The Doctor pulled her hands out of her pockets and began twisting them together nervously. 

“Uh, well, kind of, no, not really? The TARDIS is apparently mad at me about the whole hedge maze incident, I went outside to fix some of the scratches and she, uh. Well, she wont let me back in.”

“Oh.”

“So I was just wondering, well, it’s quite late and I think she needs some time to calm down, would it be okay if I- if I stayed here until the morning?” She looked up and Yaz’s heart skipped a beat.

“Uh, sure, of course.” Yaz moved aside, letting The Doctor move past her into the hallway. 

“Thanks, uh should I?” The Doctor gestured to the shoe rack and Yaz nodded.

A few seconds later they were heading down the hall towards Yaz’s room, she pushed the door open and turned around, seeing the Doctor halfway down the hallway looking at one of the many pictures on the wall.

“Yaz, is this you?”

 _Oh no._  

The Doctor was standing right in front of the picture of Yaz and Sonya in the bath, she had been about eight years old when it was taken and they were almost up to their eyes in bubbles, Sonya had a huge pile on her head in a cone shape and Yaz was sporting a bubble beard and mustache.

“That is adorable!”

Ignoring the thing her heart did at being called adorable by The Doctor, Yaz grabbed her arm and tried to pull the other woman down the hallway.

The Doctor was grinning at her, “Baby Yaz! Brilliant!”

Yaz pushed The Doctor into her room, hoping that her blush was invisible in the dim light. She closed the door behind them and headed straight for her dresser “Do you want to borrow some pyjamas?” Yaz tried to change the subject, luckily The Doctor was easily distracted.

“Pyjamas? Brilliant! Do you have any with ducks on? I love ducks!” She peered over Yaz’s shoulder into the drawer, Yaz could feel warm breath against her cheek.

“Um, no ducks sorry.” Yaz rifled through the contents of her drawer.

“You have owls! I love owls! You know there's a planet in the Messapho galaxy entirely populated by glow in the dark owls?” She leaned forward, her front pressing into Yaz’s back and pulled out the oldest, most threadbare pair of pyjamas Yaz owned. They were a dark purple with cartoon owls all over them. “Can I wear these ones?”

“Sure.” Yaz pulled out her usual sleep shirt and shorts. “You can change in the bathroom down the hall, there are spare toothbrushes in there too, under the sink.”

“Thanks Yaz!” the Doctor disappeared out the door and Yaz took a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment. God she was tired, all the running she had been doing lately was keeping her in great shape but it took a lot out of her. She let out a tired breath and quickly pulled on her pyjamas, the shirt had been her fathers and it was much too large for her but it was the most comfortable item of clothing she owned.

There as a tap at the door, “Yaz? Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

The Doctor pushed the door open, she was clad in Yaz’s old worn out owl pyjamas and her hair was sticking up a bit. Yaz wished her heart would stop doing that stutter thing. She was holding her clothes to her chest and beaming, “Do they suit me?”

Yaz swallowed, her heart was fluttering against her rib cage, “Yeah,” The Doctor held out her clothes.

“Where can I put these?”

“The chair is fine,” Yaz gestured to her desk chair and The Doctor placed her neatly folded clothes on it, laying her coat and suspenders over the back.

“I’m just going to brush my teeth,” The Doctor nodded and Yaz headed down the hall to the bathroom. It was cold and she could see the toothbrush The Doctor had used, she’d placed it in the cup next to the sink that held the rest of her family’s toothbrushes. Yaz smiled to herself, of course The Doctor had chosen purple. She brushed her teeth quickly and returned to her room, stopping in the doorway.

The Doctor was in her bed. She was in Yaz’s bed in her old owl pyjamas looking extremely soft and cute.

“Are you alright with sharing? It’ll be like a sleep over! I’ve never had a sleepover before! Not as a girl anyway! It’ll be great!” The Doctor beamed up at her and Yaz’s heart did the thing again. 

“Yeah, we can share,” Yaz crawled into bed beside The Doctor, laying down on her side and pulling the covers up to her chin, The Doctor wriggled down next to her until their faces were opposite each other on the pillows. Yaz could smell her coconutty scent again, her eyes were heavy with sleep and the bed was warm.

“Yaz?” The Doctor whispered a few seconds later

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“It’s no problem Doctor, you’re always welcome here.”

“I don’t mean just for tonight, I mean for everything. For inviting me to tea, for coming with me.” She felt The Doctors hands find hers under the covers, fingers threading through hers in the darkness.

“You don’t need to thank me.” She whispered back across the pillow, she felt The Doctor shift closer and then warm lips pressed briefly against her forehead, her heart fluttered in response as her eyes drifted closed, feeling warm breath ghosting over her cheeks and she was asleep in minutes.


	2. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yaz and The Doctor spend the day together

Yaz was comfortable, she could feel arms around her and something soft and warm against her cheek, pressing up along her body. She burrowed into the warmth and felt arms tighten around her, pulling her closer. She felt a sadness begin in her stomach and start to creep up her chest but she pushed it down, just for now, just for a little while, she could pretend it was real, she could pretend that she would wake up to a beautiful woman who returned her feelings, a woman who fell from the sky into Yaz’s life and stole her heart. They lived in their own flat, sharing a bathroom in the mornings. Yaz would be cooking and The Doctor would come up behind her and slip her arms around Yaz’s middle, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck. They slept like this every night. The Doctor loved her. 

 

Yaz woke up alone, she sat up, her tired eyes roaming the room, the light coming through her window told her it was past morning, soft golden rays lit up the flecks of dust floating through the air, gently lighting the papers strewn across the top of her desk and the long coat and yellow suspenders hanging off the back of her desk chair.  _ The Doctor. The Doctor had stayed the night. In her bed.  _

Yaz hopped out of bed and stuck her head out the door. She could hear noise coming from the kitchen.  _ One guess who that is _ . Smiling to herself, she headed down the hall.

The Doctor was standing above the stove, frowning at whatever was in the pan in front of her. She must have heard Yaz come in because she spoke, not taking her eyes from the pan 

 

“I don’t think this is working very well.” Yaz moved further into the room, coming up behind The Doctor and peering over her shoulder at the contents of the pan, her fingers itched to slide around the pyjama clad waist in front of her but she resisted, instead twisting them together and pulling them up against her own stomach.

“What are you trying to do?” She asked, “Doctor is that bread?”

“I couldn’t find your toaster!” 

“It’s right there!” Yaz pointed to the toaster, which was on the other side of the kitchen counter “Next to the bread!” 

“Oh” The Doctor’s gaze followed Yaz’s fingers pointing to the object in question, “Are you sure its a toaster?”

“Yes.” 

“It don’t look like one” 

“Yes, it does, it looks like every other toaster!” Yaz insisted. Looking back at her friend just in time to see the flames curling up from the pan in her hand.

 

“Doctor!” Her police training kicked in and she grabbed The Doctors wrist and gave it a very sharp squeeze, the pressure making the other woman drop the the handle of the pan. It bounced a bit as it fell back onto the metal and the flames leapt higher. Yaz pulled their hands away from the flaming kitchen implement, she pushed the Doctor away from the stove and grabbed the wooden cutting board from its place next to the stovetop, slowly sliding it over the pan, smothering the flames. She felt an arm slip around her waist, ready to pull her away from the danger, out of the corner of her eye she saw The Doctor switch off the flames under the pan. As soon as she was sure the flames were out she turned around, she felt The Doctor’s fingers ghosting over the skin as she turned, automatically coming to rest on her left hip. 

“Are you alright?” She grabbed The Doctor’s hand and began inspecting it for burns. “Did I hurt you? I didn’t mean to squeeze so hard!” 

“I’m fine, Yaz.” the Doctors face was very close and she spoke a little quieter than normal. Free from the distraction of the kitchen catching on fire, Yaz became very aware of how close she was to The Doctor, one of her hands was resting on Yaz’s hip while the other was now clasped in hers. Yaz’s heartbeat sped up and she prayed that The Doctor didn’t have supersonic hearing, you never quite knew with her.

 

“Maybe I should let you do the cooking in the future.” The Doctor grinned sheepishly, squeezing their fingers together a little.

Yaz let out a relieved chuckle  “Probably a good idea. Or at least learn how to use a toaster.”

 

“Moooorning.” 

 

Yaz leapt away from The Doctor almost as fast as she’d moved when the pan caught fire, dropping their hands between them and turning to face Sonya who was smirking at her from the doorway, 

 

“Fancy seeing you here, Doctor!” She greeted far too cheerily for Yaz’s taste, and Yaz narrowed her eyes at her little sister, shooting her a warning glare.

“Yaz’s sister!” The Doctor was completely unfazed it seemed and she waved cheerily from her spot next to the counter.

“Sonya, right?” She beamed at the slight nod she received, “Brilliant! I’m getting really good at names now. Much better than I was in my last-” She was cut off by a look from Yaz and faltered a bit “Uh, I mean the last time I met someonegGHHHFTYVFT.” She finished lamely, making a move as if to shove her hands into her pockets, she must have realised she wasn’t in her usual clothes because she just ended up awkwardly patting her thighs a bit. She was very cute when she was being socially awkward, Yaz thought.

 

“Mum owes me 20 quid.” Hearing this Yaz pulled her gaze from The Doctor, settling her attention back on her sister. 

“What?” 

“Nothing.” Sonya grinned at Yaz raising her eyebrows in glee.

“You had a bet?”

“No” Sonya, may have sounded convincing but her face said otherwise

“Sonya,” Yaz warned 

“Fine, we may or may not have had a bet on how long it would take for one of us to catch you guys together and I may or may not have just won it.” She still had a shit eating grin on her face. “Honestly Yaz, I’m glad you're finally getting some but you could be a tiny bit more subtle about it.”

Yaz could feel herself turn bright red, The Doctor was still standing awkwardly at the counter, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion. 

“Sonya, we’re not- It’s not- The Doctor just got locked out of her- uh- her flat last night so she slept here.” 

 

“Ok, sure, whatever you say.” Sonya rolled her eyes and turned down the hall, calling back over her shoulder “I’m going out!”

 

Yaz turned to The Doctor and smiled weakly, “Just give me a sec, yeah?” and without waiting for an answer she followed her sister towards the front door.

“Sonya!” She was just stepping out the door but she turned when she heard Yaz’s voice

“What do you want? I’m leaving you and your girlfriend Alone, isn't that enough?”

Yaz felt her blush flare up again.  _ Dammit. Stupid emotions again.  _

“She’s not my girlfriend,” She insisted.

“Well it sure looked like she was when she had you pressed up against the kitchen counter.” Sonya’s smirk was more annoying than ever. 

Yaz sighed in frustration, there was no way she was going to convince her sister otherwise now, once Sonya got an idea in her head you’d have to tear it from her cold dead hands.

“Please, could you just not tell mum and dad?”

“Of course my lovely sister, I’ll keep your dirty little secret.” Her voice was laced with sarcasm and her eyes narrowed at Yaz “For 30 quid.”

Yaz gave her a look and she put her hands up in a ‘don’t shoot’ gesture. “Hey, you gotta make it worth it for me! I’m not about to just give away 20 quid.”

“Fine.” Yaz relented, her sister was stubborn and she would definitely throw Yaz under the bus for a tenner if the opportunity came around. 

 

Sonya winked at her, “Nice doing business with you sis!” She turned and pulled the door closed behind her leaving Yaz in the hallway, she sighed and headed back to join The Doctor in the kitchen.

 

A few minutes later Yaz was pulling milk out of the fridge, they’d opted for the safer option of cereal. “Much less likely to set on fire.” Yaz had said. The Doctor had insisted on some kind of sugary concoction while Yaz had her normal  Weetabix.

“Do you have almond milk?” The Doctor asked from the table

“I think so.” Yaz put the normal milk out and went back for the almond, placing it in front of the Doctor.

“Thanks, there’s something about cows milk I don’t like, maybe I was a cow once. Like in a past life or something or maybe there's an alternate universe where I’m a cow somewhere! Could be possible...”

“I hope not.” 

“You never know Yaz.” The Doctor wagged her spoon over the table at her. “Anything is possible, especially when it comes to alternate universes.” There was something in her voice that made Yaz pause for a second, a sadness behind the words.

“Have you ever seen one?” 

“Quite a few actually, alternate realities, alternate timelines, parallel universes...”  The Doctor’s smile receded, eyes darkening slightly and she looked down at her bowl, “Don’t like those so much.”

“Why?” the Doctor looked up at Yaz, sadness in her eyes, “You don’t have to say-”

“No it’s ok Yaz,” The Doctor cut her off gently, “My- someone who was very special to me, she got trapped in one a long time ago.”

“Did she get out?” 

“For a bit yeah, but she had to go back. Couldn't stay here.”

Yaz reached across the table and squeezed The Doctors arm gently. “I’m sorry.”

“‘S ok, it’s good to talk about it, I’ll tell you about her sometime, you’d have liked her.”

Yaz smiled.

  
  


“Yaz?” The Doctor broke their silence a few moments later, looking curiously at Yaz over her spoon,

“Yeah?”

“What did Sonya mean before? When she said the thing about you getting some?” Yaz almost choked on her spoonful of cereal. 

“You alright?” 

“I’m fine” Yaz coughed, The Doctor leapt up and grabbed a glass from the sink, filling it quickly with water and handing it to a still coughing Yaz, who accepted it gratefully. The Doctor hovered behind Yaz’s chair until her breathing had returned to normal and Yaz waved at her to sit back down.

 

The Doctor looked at her from over the table, her gaze equal parts concern and curiosity.

“Um its nothing,” Yaz started, “It’s just my sister- well my whole family actually, think we’re seeing each other.”

“But we are, aren't we?” The Doctor looked more confused than ever and Yaz, who had already been teetering on the edge of a gay panic, fell right off the panic cliff. Her heart beat quickly and her breathing shallowed. “We see each other all the time! Your mum asked that before didn’t she? I thought you told her.”

_ Did that really just happen?  _ Yaz was a little shell shocked but managed to compose herself, trying to slow her heart down as best she could.

“No, Doctor, that’s not quite what it means.”

“I’m really confused then,” Her eyes were wide and she looked very small in Yaz’s owl pyjamas, fiddling with a loose thread that was coming off one of the cuffs.

“They think we’re together, like,  _ romantically. _ ” apparently The Doctor needed this spelt out for her.

Understanding dawned on The Doctors face, “Oh. Right. Well-”

“Are you finished?” Yaz barely gave The Doctor time to answer before she grabbed their empty plates, loading them into the dishwasher as quickly as she could. 

“All done!” The Doctor grinned at her happily, bouncing up from the table. “Shall we get changed then? Loads of stuff to do!”

“Like what?” 

The Doctor paused for a second, “Christmas shopping? Do you celebrate Christmas?” 

“My nan dosent but we do.” 

“Brilliant!” the Doctor grinned, “There's this great planet in the 51st century that's all shops, got everything you can imagine! It’ll be great for gifts!”

“Do you think the TARDIS’ll let you back in?” Yaz asked, pushing open her bedroom door and heading for her dresser.

“Probably, only one way to find out isn't there?”

 

Yaz pulled her coat on and, grabbing her key from the pocket and locking the flats door behind them, it was two days before Christmas and it was  _ cold.  _  Shoving her hands in her pockets she shivered as she and The Doctor began making their way down the steps of her building and towards the TARDIS.

 

The TARDIS was parked in her usual spot on the corner, Yaz could still see a few scratches from last night though most of them were gone, whether it was the TARDIS herself or The Doctors doing Yaz didn’t know, probably a bit of both. They reached the doors and The Doctor stepped up, pulling her key from her coat and jiggling it in the lock. The doors didn't budge.

“C’mon! Please?” The Doctor tried the lock again. Nothing. “I said I was sorry!”

She took a step back and extended her hand out in front of her, snapping her fingers in the direction of the blue box.

“You really think clicking at her is the best idea right now?” Yaz questioned and The Doctor huffed in annoyance.

“It used to work, haven’t done it in a while but I thought it might be worth a try.” 

Yaz was getting cold. “Why don’t we just spend the day in town? We could get a bit of shopping done here instead. Besides it seems like she needs a bit longer to cool off.”

“In Sheffield?” The Doctor turned to her, “Brilliant! I haven't properly been here, really. Unless you count all the running. You can show me ‘round!”

Moving away from the TARDIS she linked her arm through Yaz’s, “Where to then?” 

“Somewhere warm, there's a great book and coffee shop about 10 minutes away.”

“Do they make hot chocolates? I don’t really like coffee, it's all bitter.” She scrunched up her face at the thought making Yaz chuckle.

“Yeah they do.” They started walking in the direction of the coffee shop, arms still linked.

 

An hour later they were in the largest shopping center in Sheffield, both holding keep cups full of hot chocolate (soy for The Doctor). The Doctor had been extremely impressed when Yaz produced hers from her bag at the counter and the person serving them had directed them to their shelf of keep cups for sale. The Doctor had chosen a purple one and handed it to Yaz. They had an unspoken agreement. Yaz paid when they were in her time on her planet and the Doctor paid when they weren’t. Yaz rather thought she got the better end of that deal, but she wasn’t complaining. 

 

The Doctor was currently running from shop to shop like an excited child, “Yaz! Look at this!” She held up a pair of reindeer antlers made from felt, they had tiny golden bells attached that jingled when The Doctor moved them, she placed them on her head and jiggled it, making the bells go mad.

“You can’t have that, you’ll never take them off and Ryan’ll go mad.” 

The Doctor placed them back on the shelf, “Fair enough.”

“A christmas tree!” and she was off again, running towards the plastic christmas tree display. “We could get one for the TARDIS,  never had one in there before! We could all decorate it together!”

“If we’re gonna get a christmas tree for the TARDIS we have to get a real one.”

“Can we?” The Doctor's eyes were lit up with excitement, “Can we get decorations?”

“Sure!” 

 

Yaz and The Doctor had just entered the Christmas section when they heard a yell and Yaz was almost knocked over by a very small human in a Manchester United soccer jersey that was much too big for her. 

 

“YAZ!” She crashed into her wrapping small arms around Yaz’s middle, “We’re getting Christmas decorations are you too? I want to get the angel but mum says a star is better, we had a star last year but it broke, what do you think?” It all came out very fast and Yaz laughed patting the kids’ back.

 

“Hey Fizz, where’s your mum?”  the girl stepped back from Yaz gesturing vaguely in the direction she’d come from.

“Over there- Who’s that?” She zeroed in on The Doctor who waved enthusiastically before crouching down so she was eye to eye with the small child.

“I’m The Doctor, is you name really Fizz?” The kid put her hands on her hips and stuck out her chin, answering with an air of importance.

“My name’s actually Aida, but Yaz calls me Fizz because of this,” She pointed to the unruly black curls sticking out of the top of her head haphazardly. The curls fell down in front of her face and she tossed them out of her eyes with a shake of her head, keeping her hands planted firmly on her hips.

“I see.” The Doctor nodded seriously 

“That’s not the only reason, it’s also because-” Yaz started but Aida cut her off

“Because I’m always fizzing with excitement.” She recited as if she’d heard it a hundred times before. “She always says that.” And she rolled her eyes at The Doctor conspiratorially, making her grin in response.

“Hey I saw that!” Yaz grabbed Aida around the waist and began to tickle her mercilessly, making her peal with laughter as she squirmed. 

 

“I thought I heard my offspring,” A very pretty dark skinned woman was walking up the aisle towards them, her long black hair was pulled back in a neat plait that rested on her shoulder, the tip of it almost brushing the handle of the shopping cart in front of her, she seemed to be about the same age as Yaz and smiled at them as she approached.

“Hi, Yaz,” She greeted her warmly before turning her attention to her daughter, “Who’s your friend?” She nodded to The Doctor who extended her hand.

“I’m The Doctor, pleased to meet you!” She shook the woman's hand enthusiastically, bouncing it up and down.

“I’m Leen, nice to meet you.” 

“How’d you know Yaz?” The Doctor asked curiously, letting her hand drop and bury in her pockets.

“We were in school together,” Leen answered, “You?”

“Oh, you know, saved her life a couple times, now she’s stuck with me.” The Doctor nudged Yaz’s side with erh elbow and grinned at her, Yaz grinned back.

“Couldn’t get rid of you if I tried.” Yaz joked

“And you wouldn’t have it any other way!” The Doctor turned back to Aida, “We  _ are  _ getting christmas decorations, to answer your question from earlier. D’you wanna help us?” She looked up at Leen, “If that’s alright?” 

Leen nodded, “I’d love to have a catch up with Yaz anyway, haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Yeah well we’ve been travelling a lot.” The Doctor replied, not noticing the way Leens eyebrows quirked at Yaz as she said it. Yaz pretended not to notice.

“Let’s get a shift on! Ohhhh fake snow!” and she was off, Aida giggling behind her while Yaz walked next to Leen.

“Yaz you didn’t tell me you were seeing someone! Honestly I’m hurt,” she put a hand on her heart n mock pain

“We’re just friends!” Leen raised her eyebrows again at that.

“Hows Eli?” She tried to steer the subject away from her non existent relationship and it seemed to work because Leen sighed slightly.

“He’s working a lot,”

“Must be hard”

“Yeah, we miss him when he’s not around but there's not much we can do, we have bills to pay. I’ve gotten some time off for the holidays and my mum helps out with Aida when she can but its hard.”

Yaz nodded, “I can take Aida too if you need me to, so long as I’m not working.”

“Thanks Yaz.” Leen smiled at her friend, “I’ve missed you these past few weeks, so has she.” and she nodded at Aida who was in the middle of a competition with The Doctor to see how many reindeer headbands each could fit on their heads. At that moment Leens phone rang. She pulled it out of  her bag and checked the caller id, frowning at the screen.

“Mind if I take this?”

“We’ll be fine” Yaz replied, turning back to The Doctor and Aida as Leen moved away to answer the call.

“Nine!’ The Doctor announced gleefully, “What do you think, Yaz?” she asked turning towards her companion, as she did so three of the headbands fell in front of her eyes.

“Very festive” Yaz commented, The Doctor tried to push the fallen headbands back into place  but this only resulted in some other ones being pushed off the back of her head. Yaz laughed at her and The Doctor did her annoyed face scrunch thing that Yaz found extremely endearing.

“Your head is bigger than mine!” Aida protested as The Doctor began pulling the antlers from her head, sending her hair cascading over her face.

“Hmmm that’s true, uh oh, Yaz can you help me?” Somehow she’d managed to get her hair caught in one of the bells hanging off a set of the antlers.

“I told you not to get bells,” Yaz stepped forward, gently untangling the hair from the headband, tugging it free a few moments later.

“Thanks!” The Doctor beamed at her and Yaz’s heart did a little thump.

 

“Yaz! Try this one!” She looked down at Aida who was holding up a set of shiny gold antlers, Yaz bent down obediently and let the child place them on her head. “You match.” Aida pointed at the last remaining pair of antlers on The Doctors head, gold like Yaz's.

Yaz smiled at the Doctor, “Yeah, we do.”

“You look great Yaz, can we buy these? There aren’t any bells on!” The Doctor bounced on the balls of her feet.

_ I’m gay _

“Sure” 

“Brilliant!” The Doctor stepped forward and hugged Yaz tightly.  _ I’m gay, I’m so gay.  _  Yaz’s nose was buried in The Doctor’s blonde hair, she inhaled the coconutty scent of what she was pretty sure was her shampoo.

“Sorry to interrupt- whatever this is, but Yaz I have a favour to ask.” Leen had returned and she gave Yaz a look as they broke apart. 

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Can you look after Aida for a few hours? There’s an emergency at work and they need me, I’d ask my mum but she’s christmas shopping and won’t be able to get here in time.” 

Yaz glanced at The Doctor, “Yeah no problems” replied at the same time The Doctor exclaimed, 

“Love to!”

“Thank you so much!” Leen bent down to talk to Aida, “I’ll be back in a few hours, are you ok to hang out with Yaz and the Doctor for a bit?” Aida nodded and hugged her mum. “OK I love you.” She turned to Yaz and The Doctor, “Call me if you need anything.” and she was gone, heading quickly down the aisle and out of the shop.

“BYE MUM!” Aida yelled after her before immediately turning around to face the two women she’d just been left in the care of, “Can we get ice cream?”

The Doctor trained her huge puppy eyes on Yaz, “Ohh, can we?”

“Well, I  _ do _ love ice cream.” She smiled

 

“Brilliant! I know this great ice creamery near here in 2738, they have a glow in the dark ice cream-” 

Yaz cut her off, “ Why don’t we just stick to this year? There’s ice cream across the street.”

“OK,  but you have to promise to come with me later!”

“Sure.” The Doctor opened her mouth to say something but Yaz beat her to it

“Yes we can get the antlers.”

“Amazin’ I like matching! C’mon Aida!” and she grabbed Yaz’s hand, pulling her towards the registers, antlers still firmly on top of her head. Aida skipped ahead of them happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is completely unbeta'd but its almost twice the length of the last one!  
> Thanks for reading! If you dont get the cow bit all i have to say is be glad


	3. A Beautiful Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day out with Aida featuring ice cream and McDonald's

Aida was covered in ice cream. Her whole face was a sticky blue mess. It was dripping down her chin and making purple splotches on the red fabric of her soccer jersey. The Doctor on the other hand had by some miracle only managed to get a tiny bit in her hair, her clothes remaining miraculously clean. They were sitting outside a little ice creamery over the road from the shopping centre and Yaz and The Doctor still had their reindeer headbands on,  Aida had picked out a matching pair before they left the shop and the gold of the band stood out nicely against her black hair. 

 

“Enjoying yourself, Fizz?” Yaz sat back in her chair, laughing at the blue splotched six year old sitting across from her. 

 

Aida nodded enthusiastically, her antlers bobbing up and down on top of her head. 

 

“Your face could do with a little bit of a wipe, I reckon.” The Doctor joked, “You look like a Bdoo.”

 

Aida’s eyebrows creased together, “What's a Bdoo?” She leant towards The Doctor curiously. 

 

“An alien!” The Doctor replied exaggeratedly, “They've got all blue skin and they're excellent dancers if you don't mind tentacles. I really upset their queen once because I stepped on hers during a very intense political dance battle. It's the height of insult in Bdoo culture, you know.”

 

Aida's eyes were wide with wonder, “You've seen an alien before?”

 

“Oh yeah, loads! I'm an-”  Yaz cut her off before she could get any further. 

 

“Right let's get you cleaned up!” Pulling paper towels from the metal dispenser that was sitting in the middle of the table she scooted her chair around the table next to Aida and began to attack her face with the paper towels. 

 

A minute later most of the blue had gone and there was a pile of stained napkins in the centre of the table. 

 

“Back to Christmas shopping then?” The Doctor asked, “We haven't any tree decorations yet!”

 

Yaz nodded and was about to agree when a pink haired teenager appeared at the table. 

 

“Excuse me?” The girl was tugging the coloured strands of hair nervously. Three sets of curious eyes settled on her and she tugged harder. “I just wanted to say that you make a really beautiful family. It's really awesome to see queer people out and about, it makes me feel like maybe I could have this too one day, you guys are really sweet together.” it all came out quite fast and a blush started to creep its way up the girl's neck. 

 

Yaz opened her mouth to correct the girl but stopped short when she felt The Doctors hand find hers and twine their fingers together, squeezing slightly and lifting them on top of the table. 

 

“Thank you.” The Doctors voice was full of gratitude, “That's so nice to hear, we really appreciate it, don't we love?” 

 

It took Yaz a second to realise it was her The Doctor was addressing, she smiled warmly at the girl in front of them, “Uh, yeah, we do.” she tried her best to make her heart slow down. 

 

“What's your name?” The Doctor enquired, her thumb began to trace slow circles on the back of Yaz’s hand. Oh God. Her heart felt like it was dancing a very fast Irish jig. 

 

“Macy.” the girl answered, she had abandoned tugging at her hair and had moved her fingers to tangle in the hem of her jumper, twisting it around and pulling slightly. 

 

“I'll tell you what Macy. One day, in the very near future, it won't be rare to see families like ours out and about like this all the time. Maybe your family will be among them.” She smiled one of her trademark Doctor smiles at Macy and the girl blushed. 

 

“Thanks, I hope so too. Um, have a great day!” and she turned and headed down the street, Yaz noticed a slight bounce in her step and smiled, her still hammering heart warming immensely in her chest. The Doctor met her eyes and they smiled at each other. 

 

“That was very sweet, Doctor.” Yaz said softly and she was rewarded with another smile from the blonde. 

 

“Hope is a very important thing, Yaz. Besides I didn't lie, over the next eight years Europe will have a 48.7% increase in queer families.” 

 

The Doctor stood, pulling her up by their joined hands, “C’mon Aida, Christmas!”

 

Aida jumped up from her place at the table and grabbed onto Yaz’s other hand, pulling them after her back towards the shop. The Doctor didn't let go of Yaz’s hand. 

 

“Yaz?” Aida tugged on her jacket and Yaz bent down to her level. They were in the middle of the Christmas section again, this time with a shopping cart laden with decorations that the three had carefully picked out together. The Doctor was looking at Christmas lights, mumbling about boosting them with the sonic. 

 

“What’s up, Fizz?” Yaz looked down at the small wild haired six year old.

 

“Are you and The Doctor married?” Aida asked earnestly, blinking up at Yaz with big innocent brown eyes.

 

“Um, no, we’re not married.” Yaz leant down so she was eye to eye with Aida. This sort of thing had been happening a lot lately, Yaz mused, trying hard not to read into it. The Doctor was just a very physical person and Yaz just happened to spend a lot of time with her so she was usually on the receiving end. It wasn’t anything more than that. It couldn’t be.

 

“Why’d you ask?” 

 

“Well,” Aida had her serious face on, the one that made her look much older than six. “You’re like mum and dad, you hold hands a lot and she makes you laugh.”

 

“Well, that’s because we’re best friends.” Yaz replied in a matter of fact tone.

 

“Mum and dad are best friends and they’re married.” She put her hands on her hips and planted her feet a little apart _. _ Yaz grinned in amusement, she was doing the exact pose from the Matilda musical her mum had taken her and Sonya to a few years ago.

 

“Not all best friends are married.” Yaz countered and Aida stuck out her chin defiantly. 

 

“Well, I think you should get married to her.” 

 

Yaz raised her eyebrows and tried not to laugh, “That’s what you think is it then?” 

 

“Yes.” She said it with extreme seriousness, looking Yaz dead in the eye. 

 

“Well,” Yaz shrugged, straightening up. “You’re the boss!” 

 

“Who’s the boss?” The Doctor appeared at her shoulder, arms full of boxes of fairy lights. 

 

Yaz nodded at Aida, still in her Matilda pose,  “She is.”

 

“Oh, Brilliant!” The Doctor grinned at the little girl in front of them, “What have you decided boss?”

 

“You’re getting married.” Aida told her, “To Yaz.”

 

The Doctor raised her eyebrows at the woman in question and Yaz nodded  _ very  _ solemnly in return. She turned back to Aida.

 

“Amazin’! I love weddings, d’you wanna be the flower girl?” Her eyes lit up suddenly, “ _ Or  _ you could be the one to marry us!”

 

“Ok!” Aida agreed enthusiastically and The Doctor turned to deposit her boxes of lights into the trolley, giving Yaz a look as she did so. Yaz smirked at her.

 

“Great! Shall we say next Tuesday?” The Doctor moved around to the end of the trolley, grasping the handle and wiggling her head at Aida to jump on the end. Aida obliged instantly, grabbing onto the metal cart and standing on the thin rail. The Doctor began rolling the cart down the aisle and Yaz fell into step next to her. Their shoulders brushed as they walked, the little girl in front of them planning the details of their imaginary wedding (all the guests would be dogs and McDonald’s was going to cater apparently).

 

Leen called up as they were loading their purchases into Yaz’s car. About a thousand thank you’s later and one very short car trip and the four of them were sitting in a McDonalds, happily munching on chips.

 

“Well, ice cream and McDonalds all in one day! You’ve been a bit spoilt by Auntie Yaz, haven't you?” Leen asked her daughter across the brightly printed table, dipping a chip into some sauce.

 

“Best day ever!” Aida grinned at her mum, “And she got me these! We all match see?” She pointed to the gold antlers and Yaz realised they’d all kept them on the whole day.

 

“They look great!” Leen smiled at the little girl and grinned over her happy meal.

 

“Wanna see a magic trick?” Yaz asked the table as she picked up the last chip.

 

“Yeah!” Aida answered 

 

“Always!” The Doctor said at the same time 

 

Yaz smiled and shoved her hand into her paper chip container, pushing the bottom down so the cardboard was almost back to its original flat pack state. She dropped the last chip into it and held the container out in front of her, squeezing the sides gently until she heard the bottom pop back into place, sending the chip flying up into the air. It came back down and Yaz deftly caught it in her mouth, prompting a chorus of cheers from the others. 

 

“You’re welcome.” She smiled and did a fancy hand flourish (there was no room to bow).

 

“That was ace!” the Doctor exclaimed, staring at Yaz in amazement. “Can you teach us?”

 

“Yeah! Please?” Aida agreed excitedly, bouncing in her seat.

 

“Sure.” Yaz laughed, stealing a few chips from The Doctors container as she reset her own empty one.

 

There were a lot of dropped chips to pick up by the time they all said goodbye.

 

“Yaz?” Leen asked as they stepped into the car park, “We’re having a boxing day lunch at our house, we’d love it if you came. You too Doctor.” 

 

The woman in question looked to Yaz, raising her eyebrows slightly. Yaz replied with a slight tilt of her head and The Doctor turned back to Leen, “We’d love to come!”

 

“Awesome! We’ll see you then.” Leen gave them both hugs goodbye, thanking them again for looking after Aida.

 

Aida gave Yaz the biggest hug, whispering in her hear as she did so, “Get me a good Christmas present.”

 

Yaz laughed and stood up.“You bet, Fizz, the best.”

 

Aida grinned at her and hugged The Doctor who lifted the small child off the ground and swung her about a little before putting her back. 

 

“BYE!” Aida yelled from the car park as they walked away, her small hand tucked into Leens and the antlers still atop her head bobbing as she moved.

 

“C’mon Yaz!” The Doctor grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the car, “You promised me a real tree!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always this is unbeta'd. It's way past my bedtime but I was so close I had to stay up to finish. I hoped you liked it.


	4. Christmas Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tree decorating and Christmas shopping (kind of)

It was Christmas Eve and ‘The Fam’ were trying to shove the biggest tree Yaz had ever seen through the (actually quite small) doors of the TARDIS, which was parked outside Ryan and Grahams house. It was honestly a miracle they could even get it back to the spaceship; The Doctor had somehow produced what looked like a very large sled. They must have looked like a very strange dog sled team, the four of them lined up pulling the enormous tree through the snow. 

 

“Push harder!” The Doctor's voice was muffled by the mess of green pine branches.

 

“We are pushing!” Yaz yelled back indignantly, her hands were covered in sap and pine needles were sticking into her body from all kinds of strange angles. She could imagine The Doctor on the other side of the tree, the alien had rolled up her sleeves earlier and Yaz had to try really hard not to stare at the exposed skin. The Doctor had very nice arms-  _ concentrate Yaz _ . She shook her head and turned her attention back to the task at hand.

 

“C’mon Yaz, use those police muscles!” The Doctor hollered. 

 

“I’ll show you police muscles,” Yaz muttered irritably. She was beginning to get frustrated, they’d been at this for at least the last twenty minutes and she was starting to think maybe the tree would never get past the doors. She shoved at the trunk of the tree again.

 

“I bet she’d like that,” Ryan wiggled his eyebrows at his friend suggestively from his spot on the other side of the trunk of the great pine, needles were pressing into his skin making small dents in his cheek. 

 

“Ryan!” Yaz chided him, her cheeks turning a deep red. “Shut up and push!” 

 

Ryan laughed at her and turned back to the tree. She rolled her eyes, it was like having a really annoying brother, being around Ryan so much.   _ At least he's not even half as bad as Sonya _ . 

 

“OK WE ALL NEED TO GO AT ONCE, READY?” The Doctor yelled.

 

“RIGHT!” Ryan and Yaz replied in unison.

 

“Yep!” They heard Graham reply from the console room side of the tree.

 

“ONE!” 

 

Yaz braced her feet against the ground, bending her knees and steadying herself.

 

“TWO!” 

 

She readied her arms, making sure she had a good grip on the tree bark in front of her. She took a deep breath, centring herself.

 

“THREE!” Ryan and Yaz pushed. The Doctor and Graham pulled and the tree flew through the doors all at once sending everyone sprawling to the ground, it reminded Yaz of an old episode of Winnie The Pooh she’d watched as a child.

 

Yaz was back on her feet in seconds, clambering over the tree trunk and into the TARDIS control room where The Doctor and Graham were clambering back to their feet.

 

“We did it!” The Doctor exclaimed gleefully charging at Yaz and spinning her around in the air.

 

They laughed in unison and The Doctor placed Yaz back on the ground gently, their faces were centimeters apart. The world stood still for a second, in the space between heartbeats. The Doctor looked right into her eyes, she could feel warm breath on her cheeks. The proximity was making her head swim, her breathing shallowed and she swallowed hard. She was hypersensitive to The Doctors touch, each fingertip resting on her waist sent fire through her veins.

 

“Doctor, have you got any mad cool alien tech that gets rid of tree sap?” Ryan’s voice broke the spell.

 

“Yeah, I’ve got something here somewhere.” The Doctor stepped away quickly, releasing her grip on Yaz and shoving her hands into her pockets, rummaging through them, searching for something.

 

Ryan was oblivious to the moment they’d just been having, picking at a patch of sap on his coat sleeve. Graham seemed equally distracted, brushing dust from his coat and pulling pine needles from the woolen scarf he was wearing.

 

The Doctor pulled a small jar out of her pocket and offered it to Ryan, “Don’t use too much,” She warned him. “It works wonders on sap but also will cause a nasty green rash if you get too much on your skin.” 

 

Ryan took the jar from The Doctor, eyeing it suspiciously. As soon as it was out of her hand The Doctor bounded over to the far side of the console room. They had left the bags of decorations next to the wall yesterday after returning from their day out. The TARDIS had apparently cooled off enough to let them back inside, Yaz had tried to ignore the swell of disappointment when the doors clicked open and The Doctor bounded through, antlers wobbling.

 

They were hanging from a lever on the console now, Yaz could see them. Her own were on her bedside table back in her flat where she had left them before settling down for the night. She’d woken up early, covered in sweat after a very intimate dream about The Doctor- heat pooled in her stomach at the memory of warm breath on her skin, the dream version of The Doctor pressing close to her, fingers in her hair, tugging-

 

She was pulled back to the present by the real Doctor suddenly appearing in front of her, holding two of the many bags of decorations. Baubles fell from the bags and on to the floor but she didn’t seem to notice as she grinned right at Yaz, who tried to inconspicuously take a calming breath in as The Doctor, again, stood very close to her. She could smell The Doctors coconut shampoo. The proximity was not helping the sensation in her stomach.

 

She tried to distract herself by taking the bags from The Doctor, but this required her to move closer and their fingers brushed as the bags moved between them, sending electricity up Yaz’s arm.

 

“Right,” She hoped she didn’t sound as flustered as she felt, turning away and heading towards the tree with the decorations. She could hear The Doctor behind her, heading back to retrive the other bags. “Let’s get to decorating!”

 

Two hours later they were staring at the largest and most haphazardly decorated christmas tree ever. There were at least 5 different strands of fairy lights and the extra few had been wrapped around the crystal pillars of the TARDIS. There was a mess of all different colours of tinsel and brightly decorated baubles hanging precariously from the over laden branches, The Doctor had gone a bit mad with the canned snow and everything was lightly frosted. The cans had been at the very bottom of one of the bags so by the time they’d  been discovered the majority of the decorations were already on the tree. Most of the decorations were covered in fake snow as a result and Yaz hoped it would wash out of hair easily (Ryan had insisted that it had been an accident but Yaz wasn’t convinced).

 

“It’s the best tree ever!” The Doctor announced, her hands on her hips.

 

“Uh, sure,” Ryan sounded unconvinced and Graham nodded uncomitally.

 

“I like it,” Yaz smiled, it was a perfect reflection of The Doctor, she thought, beautiful, strange and a bit mad. Team TARDIS had planned to meet for their own christmas gift exchange after all the familial obligations of the day were over. They had just finished placing their various wrapped presents under the tree, completing the picture nicely.

 

Graham and Ryan had opted to spend Christmas together, they wanted to have it in their own house. Ryan’s nan had loved Christmas and Yaz thought it was probably their way of trying to make her a part of it even though she was gone. Yaz had the usual Christmas morning gift exchange with her own family and then a small dinner they did every year. It wasn’t a very prominent holiday in the Kahn household, the only reason they even did presents was because Yaz and Sonya had complained so much about missing out when they were kids. Hounding their parents until they finally relented. They had added the family dinner the year after, and now it was her dad’s favourite part of the day. He would ban everyone else from the kitchen and spend hours preparing way too much food, most of it not very good, but it was a tradition now.

 

“Right, we better get going Ryan,” Graham patted his grandson on the shoulder. “We’ll see you two tomorrow then? Around noon?” 

 

“Yeah, see you then.” Yaz replied.

 

“Brilliant!” The Doctor said at the same time, waving at the boys as they pulled on their coats.

 

With a final, “Merry Christmas!” The two men disappeared out the blue doors, leaving Yaz and The Doctor alone in the TARDIS. Silence stretched between them. Yaz felt it stretch between them, she knew it was getting late but she couldn’t bring herself to go just yet. The Doctor moved to the console, fiddling with the buttons. Yaz shifted on her feet, unsure of what to do.

 

“I’d better go too,” Yaz said finally. “My family will be waiting.”

 

The Doctor patted the console absentmindedly, looking down at her boots, “Yeah I ‘spose.”

 

She hated being left alone, Yaz had noticed over the past few months of traveling with her. The Doctor would drop them home occasionally so they could keep up with their lives, as much as Yaz loved traveling the universe she was still committed to her job and couldn’t just disappear for weeks on end and she had to keep up appearances with her family.

 

The Doctor always looked so sad when they had to say goodbye, occasionally she would just leave the TARDIS on the corner and spend a few days tinkering. Yaz would drop in after her shift, often still in uniform, to make sure she’d eaten. She would bring The Doctor dinner and they would eat in the console room, sitting on the floor. Other times The Doctor would leave, appearing a few days later with a story of some new adventure she’d had. Yaz was half convinced that most of these stories were either recycled or just plain made up and The Doctor had just jumped forward a few days in time to pick them up right away.

 

“See you tomorrow!” Yaz was not fooled by the fake cheery tone The Doctor tried to put on as she reluctantly turned back to the console, fingers running over the buttons and knobs, not looking at Yaz.

 

“You could come with me,” The words were out of her mouth before she had a chance to think about them. 

 

The Doctor turned to her, eyebrows creased slightly, “Are you sure?” She leant back up against the console, trying (and failing) to look casual. Her arms were too far apart where they rested behind her on the console, making her torso lean backwards awkwardly, the hood of her coat almost brushing the controls.

 

“You can’t spend christmas alone! Besides, my family loves you,” It would only add fuel to the fire of her family’s ‘The Doctor is dating Yaz’ obsession but looking at the adorable alien in front of her, she decided she didn’t care.

 

Especially when she saw the smile that lit up The Doctor's face.

 

“Besides, I kind of already told them you were coming a few weeks back.” Yaz fiddled with the hem of her star shirt.  “You don’t have to come obviously I just thought- you might like to?” She finished lamley.

 

“Yaz.” The Doctor was right in front of her suddenly, her hand lifting Yaz’s from the hem of her shirt and threading their fingers together. She spoke softly and her words were full of emotion, “Thank you. I am honoured that you thought of me.” Her eyes shone and Yaz gulped, her hand tingling. 

 

The Doctor stepped back  suddenly, her eyebrow crease reappearing on her face. “I should bring presents! For Christmas! Yaz will you help me choose?”

 

“Sure,” Yaz was taken aback by The Doctors sudden and quite jarring change in emotion, following the alien down the TARDIS corridor.

 

A few twists and turns later, they arrived in a cavernous room, filled to the brim with all sorts of strange objects. Books lay in piles higher than Yaz, most looking like they might fall over at any moment. There was a large statue of a man with floppy hair and a bowtie, probably about three or four times taller than The Doctor, which had all kinds of clothes draped over it. A very expensive looking tiara was perched on his head. The bits of the walls that didn't have things piled against them were hung with paintings and the occasional arty photograph. There were pieces of furniture and cooking implements in piles and shoved into cracks. Various rugs littered the floor and strange alien objects that could have been anything from futuristic art to random space junk lay around the room, mixing with books, lamps, chairs, sports equipment. Yaz stopped in the doorway and The Doctor let go of her hand, heading straight for a pile consisting mostly of mugs. She was already at least 10 in when Yaz found her voice.

 

“You’re a hoarder,” The Doctor turned away from her task and shot Yaz an indignant look.

 

“I am not!” 

 

“Yes. You are,” Yaz smirked at her and The Doctor waved a gnome shaped mug at her exasperatedly.

 

“Well, maybe a little bit,” She admitted and Yaz raised her eyebrows, causing The Doctor to huff and turn back to the pile. “Come help me!” 

 

Yaz laughed and joined her friend, sifting through the pile of ceramics.

 

“Will your dad like this one?” The Doctor held up a mug with  _ #1 DAD _ written on it.

 

“Yes but maybe not from you?” Yaz suggested.

 

The Doctor looked down at the mug in her hands, “Oh, right of course.” She placed it back on the pile and stood up. “What about an apron? So he can make his terrible pakora?” She asked, scanning the room, hands on her hips.

 

“He’d like that a lot.” Yaz stood too, trying not to look too hard at The Doctor's back (and butt) as she did so.

 

“Brilliant! I think there's one hanging off my ear, can you see it?” She pointed to the statue of the man and Yaz followed her line of sight. 

 

There  _ was  _ an apron up there, draped over the ear.

 

“Hang on, I thought you said you the last you were a Scottish bloke with angry eyebrows?” Yaz asked, looking at the mans carved face. “That guy doesn't look like he has any eyebrows at all.”

 

The Doctor had already stated towards the statue, “This is the me before I was angry and Scottish! The Royal family of Asdia had it made for me when I saved them from a bad centipede infestation.” 

 

She had reached the base of the statue now and was looking up at the apron, “It sounds a lot less serious than it is when I say it like that. Centipedes are very toxic to Asdians, probably would have wiped out the whole city if I hadn’t turned up,” She explained, turning back to Yaz. “Can you give me a boost? I reckon I can grab onto one of the arms and get up that way.” She pulled off her coat and rolled her sleeves up for the second time that day.

 

“Sure.” Yaz moved closer, knitting her fingers together and getting down on one knee. The Doctor placed her hands on Yaz’s shoulders and her booted foot in Yaz’s outstretched hands.

 

“Ready?” the Doctor asked, Yaz could feel her tense, ready to be launched upwards.

 

“Yep,” She swallowed hard, The Doctor was pressing up against her and she had to try very hard not to concentrate on the lack of space between the inside of the aliens legs and her nose. She could feel her face heating up and prayed The Doctor wouldn’t choose that moment to look down at her.  _ Control yourself Yasmin.  _  She berated herself silently.  _ Concentrate. No distractions. _

 

“Jump!” Yaz hoisted The Doctor up and her hands flailed about a little as she tried to grab the statues arm, finally securing a hold on the cufflink and pulling herself up onto the stone man’s arms. She was surprisingly good at climbing, Yaz thought as she watched The Doctor hoist herself up onto the large stone shoulder and get to her feet, reaching for the apron. Yaz could see her arm muscles very clearly from her spot on the ground, they were  _ very _ nice. 

 

“Yaz!” The Doctor was clinging to her previous self’s ear, waving the apron like a victory flag. Yaz gave her a thumbs up and they grinned at each other.

 

“Catch!” The apron flew through the air and landed a metre or so from Yaz, who, having seen the wide arch it was making through the air knew it would fall short and didn’t even try to intercept it. 

 

She made a face at The Doctor, “Nice throw.” She teased.

 

“Nice catch,” The Doctor shot back, not looking at her as she slid down the shoulder like a child on a slide and landed back on the crossed arms of the statue sitting down and letting her legs dangle in the air, hands either side of her body.

 

“How are you going to get down?” Yaz asked, looking up at her friend. It was pretty high up, though there was probably some kind of rope or ladder in amongst the mess of items scattered around the room.

 

The Doctor looked down at Yaz, her cute eyebrow crease appearing again.

 

“Will you catch me?” She leaned forward slightly, sizing up the drop. “ _ Can  _ you catch me?” She eyed the crumpled apron on the floor doubtfully.

 

“That was a bad throw!” Yaz defended herself before answering seriously. “I’ll catch you.”

 

Their eyes met and The Doctor held her gaze for a second. Yaz felt something pass between them, something heavy and serious. “I’ll always catch you.” The words were soft and full of meaning and for a second Yaz worried she’d given too much away.

 

“Go on then!” Before she could react the blonde was hurtling towards her through the air, limbs windmilling wildly. Whooping as she fell.

 

She crashed in to Yaz, the force of her body knocking the air out of Yaz’s lungs and sending them both crashing to the ground. Her hands instinctively found The Doctor’s waist and The Doctor’s landed either side of Yaz’s head, their bodies were flush against each other. Their noses were almost touching, Yaz looked up into hazel-green eyes and if she hadn't been winded already she would have lost her breath at the sight of her crush right over her face, surrounded by the scent of coconut for the second time that day. 

 

The Doctor was beautiful, hovering just above Yaz’s body. She felt heat creep up her neck as she realised they were in a very similar position the dream she’d had last night, Yaz closed her eyes and tried to push the memories down. It didn’t work very well, she felt heat pooling in her stomach and creeping further down. The dream came back in flashes.  _ Hot kisses on her neck, soft sighs in her ear, fingers trailing down her sides.  _ She could feel an involuntary ache growing between her legs.

 

The Doctor shifted on top of her slightly and her knee nudged between Yaz’s legs and pressed into her centre. She sucked in a sharp breath at the sensation, the ache growing a thousand times stronger. The Doctor leapt off her at the sound, Yaz suppressed a whine at the loss of contact.

 

“Yaz, are you okay? Did I hurt you?” Her voice was full of concern and Yaz opened her eyes to see her friend hovering over her again. Sitting back on her heels next to her with a very worried look on her face.

 

Yaz pushed down the disappointment that bloomed in her chest and tried to compose herself as quickly as possible.  _ How embarrassing. _

 

“Uh, yeah I’m fine.  Just winded,” The Doctor offered her hand and Yaz took it, letting her friend help her up.

 

“Are you sure you're alright?” She didn't seem very convinced by the answer.

 

“I’m sure,” Yaz replied, trying desperately to compose herself, her face felt hot and her legs were a bit wobbly.

 

“Right.” the Doctor let go of her hand, turning back towards the statue and quickly heading for the apron, she scooped it up from where it had landed and turned back to Yaz holding the apron so she could see the writing across the front. 

 

“What d’you think?” 

 

_ World’s Okayest Chef  _ was printed in large white letters, standing out nicely against the black fabric.

 

Yaz laughed, “He’s gonna love it!”

 

“Brilliant!” The Doctor looked so happy, it warmed Yaz’s heart and almost made her forget the embarrassment she’d felt only seconds ago. 

 

“We’d better get a shift on, one down two to go!” With one last slightly concerned glance back at Yaz she headed over towards a pile of paintings that presumably hadn’t been able to fit on the walls. Yaz followed slowly, taking opportunity of her back being turned to take a few deep breaths.

 

“How about a nice painting for your mum?” The Doctor suggested, already sifting through the canvasses as Yaz joined her by the pile.

 

“She’d love that.” Yaz agreed, “She’s always wanting to hang things up in the hall and I’d much prefer a painting to a baby photo.”

 

“You’re a very cute baby though Yaz,” The Doctor remarked before shoving a horrible painting of a baby dressed as a flower in front of Yaz’s nose. “This one?”

 

“Why don’t we stay away from babies all together?” Yaz suggested, taking the canvas form The Doctor and placing it on the far side of the pile.

 

“Right-o!” The Doctor replied cheerily, pulling another picture from the mess of paintings in front of them.

 

They settled on a very nice abstract painting for her mum, the apron for her dad and a signed Beyoncé poster that The Doctor had apparently been given by the singer herself for Sonya.

 

“Do you think they’ll like them?” The Doctor looked up at Yaz. It was almost an hour later and they were sitting on the floor of the console room, surrounded by wrapping paper and sticky tape. The Doctor was halfway through wrapping the poster, a bit of tape had somehow gotten stuck to her left eyebrow and her eyes were wide and full of worry staring up at Yaz.

 

She smiled back affectionately, her chest felt warm and full as she put her hand over The Doctor’s reassuringly, “They’ll love them Doctor, don’t worry.”

 

“Are you sure Yaz? I need you to be sure,” It was strange, hearing the words she’d been asked so many months ago in such a different context again now.

 

“Sure,” Yaz’s heart swelled at The Doctor’s worry over the presents she’d so carefully picked out for Yaz’s family. 

 

Yaz nodded and The Doctor held her gaze for a minute before smiling in relief and returning to wrapping. Christmas was going to be interesting this year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaz is a little horny in this chapter, hahaha. :)
> 
> Thanks to @VixTheBitch for beta!! Happy new year!


	5. Christmas Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas morning and The Doctor spends some time with Yaz and her family.

The Doctor couldn't sleep.

 

She wasn't very good at sleeping, mostly because she only actually  _ needed _ about four hours’ sleep every few days. She was physically able to sleep a human amount of hours if she wanted to, it didn’t make a huge difference either way, but she found it harder this time around. Maybe it was because her new body was more hyperactive, thoughts were constantly bouncing around in her head and she was  _ definitely  _ not good at keeping still, which was a pretty important part of sleeping.  She laid on her back, staring at the ceiling of the Khan family’s living room, feet wiggling around under the floral sheets Najia had given her. 

 

Yaz’s mum had made her a bed on the couch. (The couch had actually  _ pulled out into a bed _ , The Doctor found this endlessly amazing.) She had made it very clear that The Doctor was expected to sleep there tonight, this comment had elicited an exasperated, “ _ Mum! _ ” from her eldest daughter.  The comment had confused The Doctor; of course she wasn’t gonna just  _ leave _ halfway through the night. She’d promised Yaz she was going to spend Christmas with her and she never broke a promise. Especially a promise to Yaz.

 

She rolled over and her fingers found a loose thread on the sleeve of the flannel pyjamas she was wearing. They were the same owl pyjamas Yaz had let her borrow last time. They were really nice, she thought as she continued to tug at the loose purple thread, she liked the little owls and the flannel material was warm and soft against her skin. Most importantly though, they smelled like Yaz. She liked the way Yaz smelled, like the colour purple, stars and her coconut shampoo. Well, if you  _ could  _ smell those things that’s what they’d smell like, she mused silently, as the thread came loose and she started winding it around her thumb and unwinding it over and over.

 

The Doctor huffed to herself. Night time was  _ boring.  _  At least in the TARDIS she could make repairs when her friends were sleeping. 

 

It was a cold night and the radiator hummed a bit too loudly in the corner of the room, the sound filled her ears and buzzed down her back, making her all the more restless. She could hear cars occasionally whooshing past on the road outside and some kind of insistent insect outside chirping. It was not helping the not sleeping thing at all. She sat up, the couch creaking underneath her as she shifted her weight and scanned the room. Surely there was  _ something  _ she could do to pass the time. The Doctor dropped the thread on the mattress and grabbed her sonic, throwing off the bed covers and heading for the noisy radiator.

  
  
  


“Can you stop making that noise?” The Doctor turned towards the living room door where a bleary eyed Sonya was standing looking at her accusingly. It had been about an hour and she had rewired the TV and DVD player, fixing the broken stereo that was sitting in a corner and tinkering with the radiator a little (it wouldn’t make that weird noise anymore, thankfully) she had run out of things to do and settled back on the couch, flicking her sonic on and off. 

 

Apparently this was the noise Sonya had been referring to. The Doctor turned off the device and sheepishly placed it on top of the pile of clothes that sat on the arm of the couch. “Sorry,” She apologised, “Can’t sleep.” 

 

“Well go cuddle Yaz or something, just be  _ quiet _ please because I’m trying to sleep.” She shot an accusing glare at the blonde before heading down the hallway and back to her bedroom.

 

_ Cuddle with Yaz?  _  The Doctor’s ears perked up at that, it wasn’t a bad idea, she quite liked cuddling and cuddling with Yaz, well, that was the best. Sliding off the edge of the mattress as quietly as she could she padded down the hall to Yaz’s bedroom door. The doorknob was cold against her skin as she swung her friend’s door open and tapped on the wood lightly.

 

“Yaz?” Her voice was soft in the darkness, she could just make out the lump of Yaz’s body under the sheets of her bed, lit by the faint streetlight coming through her thin curtains. This room was much quieter than the one The Doctor had just vacated.

 

“Hmm?” Came the sleepy reply and the lump shifted, dark hair spilling out of the duvet as she turned towards the voice. “Doctor?” Yaz sat up and rubbed her eyes, blinking through the darkness at her friend’s silhouette. “Are you ok?”

 

The Doctor lingered in the doorway, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “Can I have a cuddle?” She asked, glancing up at Yaz, “I couldn’t sleep and I just thought…” She trailed off awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.

 

“It might help?”  Yaz’s voice was soft and there was something in the tone she used that made The Doctor’s hearts flutter.

 

“Last time I slept all night. It was nice.” 

 

Yaz smiled and reached her arms out towards her friend. “C’mere then.”

 

The Doctor hesitated slightly, “Sure?” She asked uncertainty and Yaz chuckled at the familiar question.

 

“Sure.” The word seemed to hold a lot more weight than it should and maybe it did but Yaz was quickly distracted by The Doctor’s smile.

 

She moved into the room eagerly, shutting the door softly behind her and crawling into bed next to the sleepy girl, settling onto her back so that Yaz could lay her head on The Doctor’s chest.

 

The timelord sighed contentedly into Yaz’s hair. She could hear the comforting sound of her friend’s twin heartbeats through the flannel of her old pyjamas. 

 

“Thanks Yaz.” The Doctor breathed in the familiar smell of Yaz, closing her eyes as she felt the other girl snuggle closer. 

 

“Anytime.” Yaz murmured sleepily and The Doctor’s hearts swelled, her eyes drifted shut and they were both asleep in minutes.

  
  
  


Yaz woke up slowly, surrounded by a familiar warmth, she breathed in the smell of coconut and sighed contentedly as the last tendrils of sleep slipped away.

 

“Morning,” A soft voice greeted her. She opened her eyes and glanced up, The Doctor’s face was inches from hers. Outside light spilled into the room behind her, bouncing off her messy bed hair and creating a pleasant halo effect.  _ Beautiful. _

 

“Morning.” She replied quietly, her brain still fuzzy with sleep. She let herself enjoy the closeness for a moment, enjoying the feeling of being wrapped up in The Doctor. A warm comfortable silence settled over them like a blanket their arms wrapped around each other and legs tangled together. Yaz sighed and began to sit up, untangling herself from the limbs that circled her. The Doctor made a disappointed groan and clung to her.

 

“Not yet.” She whined, trying to pull Yaz back down.  

 

“I have to pee,” The Doctor sighed in resignation and released her, flopping back down into the pillows.

 

Yaz swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She caught The Doctor pouting at her from the mess of covers, her hair was sticking up in all directions. Yaz chucked at the sight, she looked very cute, wrapped up in Yaz’s floral duvet and wearing her clothes. It was a sight she could get used to. She tucked the image away in her head as she headed down the hall.

 

“Are you hungry?” She asked a minute later, poking her head into her room on the way back from the bathroom. The Doctor was sitting up now, nose buried in one of Yaz’s police textbooks. She looked up from her spot on the bed.

 

“Starving! Shall I make toast?” She grinned at Yaz, a sparkle in her eye, closing the textbook and carefully placing it back on the bedside table.

 

“No.” Yaz replied firmly, The Doctor laughed and an involuntary smile spread over Yaz’s face. It was so easy to be happy with her, when The Doctor smiled it lit up Yaz’s heart. 

 

“You’re definitely banned from cooking toast after last time.” She reminded her friend with an affectionate smile.

 

“Fair enough.” The Doctor agreed, smiling back. She untangled herself from the covers, wriggling over to the edge of the bed, “Will you cook then?”

 

“How do you feel about eggs?” Yaz asked over her shoulder, turning and heading towards the kitchen.  

 

“Brilliant, I love eggs!” Came the reply as the alien hopped out of bed and followed her into the kitchen.

  
  
  


Two plates of eggs later they were huddled together on the couch, murmuring quietly to each other, two brand new mugs of hot tea sat before them. It was still quite early and the room was lit pleasantly by the morning light, the steam rising from their mugs caught the sunbeams in just the right way, making it look like golden smoke.

 

“Mum and dad incoming.” Sonya warned, plopping down on the brown sofa that rested adjacent to the now folded up couch which currently held Yaz and The Doctor. Yaz poked her tongue out at her sister but slid to the other end of the couch anyway, pulling her feet up onto the cushions and resting her back against the arm as her parents entered the room. 

 

Najia saw the end of the re-positioning but was tactful enough to pretend not to notice, “Sleep well, Doctor?” She asked picking up the still warm kettle and taking it over to the sink, flicking the top open to fill it up. 

 

Yaz wrapped her hands around her tea, the heat of the mug almost burning her fingers but spreading a nice warmth through the palms of her hands and up her wrists as she lifted it from the small wooden coffee table. She absentmindedly tucked her cold toes under The Doctor’s thigh as she did so, taking a sip of the steaming tea.

 

“Brilliant, thanks.” The Doctor replied, tearing her gaze from Yaz and grinning at Najia, who eyed her somewhat suspiciously. “I didn’t even leave!” The Doctor assured her earnestly, “I was here all night!” 

 

She felt Yaz’s toes wriggle meaningfully under her thigh and she glanced over at her friend only to be met with a warning glare and a very subtle shake of the head. This only served to confuse the alien. “Um, I mean- I  _ wasn’t  _ here all night?” she looked at Yaz, eyebrows drawing together in confusion, wondering what it was that she apparently shouldn't have said. 

 

“So when I came out here earlier this morning for a drink of water you were where exactly?” Najia leaned over the counter, fixing The Doctor with an accusing stare.

 

“Yes well, Yaz and I were probably sleeping together!” Yaz choked on her tea, almost spitting it over The Doctor. Her dad dropped the plate he’d been holding, it crashed to the floor and he swore and bent down to pick up the pieces. Najia shot upwards at that, her hands still on the counter, fingers splayed and shoulders tense.

 

“ _ Yasmin Khan! _ ” Her mother scolded, completely ignoring her husband behind her, shock apparent in her voice. 

 

“No,  _ Mum!  _  That’s not- She doesn't mean-” Yaz spluttered, “She couldn’t sleep-”

 

“Well, that’s one way to make someone tired.” Sonya remarked from behind her phone.

 

“ _ Sonya! _ ” Yaz sunk down behind her tea, she could feel the tips of her ears burning. “We just cuddled I swear! It was strictly PG! We’re  _ friends.  _ How many times do I have to tell you?”

 

Hakim stood, he held a dustpan full of the broken pieces of plate in one hand and placed the other on his wife’s shoulder, “Najia, calm down, Yaz is an adult remember? She can make her own decisions. If she says nothing happened then we need to trust her.”

 

“You’re right.” Najia’s shoulders relaxed and she sighed, “Sorry Yaz, but you have to admit it sounded like-”

 

“Right! Maybe we should end this conversation now.” Yaz cut her off before things could get even more embarrassing.

 

“Yaz?” The Doctor leaned over from the other side of the couch, her hazel-green eyes were wide and full of worry, “Did I do something wrong? I didn’t mean to-” 

 

Yaz shook her head and put her hand on The Doctor’s shoulder reassuringly, “It’s okay Doctor, my family just love  _ jumping to conclusions!”  _ She glared accusingly at her mother and sister.

 

Najia raised her hands in front of her, “I believe you Yaz, there’s no need for that tone!”

 

“Have you lot eaten yet?” Hakim asked, deftly changing the subject as he emptied the dustpan into the rubbish bin. Yaz leaned back against the couch, grateful for the change of subject as she watched her father put the dustpan away and pull the bread out from its space next to their toaster. Najia bruised herself making tea.

 

“I made eggs.” Yaz replied and she took another sip of tea, she took a deep breath and revelled in the comforting aroma rising from her cup. Tea never failed to make her feel better.

 

“Sonya?” Their dad asked, loading up the toaster before rummaging through the cabinets and pulling out spreads and cutlery. 

 

“I just woke up.” Sonya replied, already absorbed in her phone. Yaz rolled her eyes and The Doctor smiled affectionately at her.

 

“Toast?” Their dad asked and Sonya nodded in reply, barely looking up from her phone.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Shall we watch the specials?” Yaz picked up the remote. They generally weren’t huge on TV but there wasn’t much else to do on Christmas when you didn’t properly celebrate it. It had become a Khan family tradition to watch as much TV as possible on Christmas.

 

“Oh! That reminds me! You’ve got Netflix now! I added it last night.” The Doctor leaned over and took the remote from Yaz, tapping a few buttons and pulling up the Netflix home screen. “I also connected the TV to your WiFi and got rid of that awful noise your radiator was making.” She handed the remote back to Yaz and leaned back into the couch. 

 

“I wondered why it was so quiet!” Hakim mused.

 

“Netflix, Brilliant!” Sonya exclaimed at the same time and leaned over, deftly plucking the remote from her sisters’ hands.

 

“Oi!” Yaz protested but Sonya was already flicking through titles. 

 

“Don’t forget, you owe me 30 pounds.” Sonya shot a meaningful glance at her sister and Yaz huffed in annoyance.  _ Bloody hell Sonya.  _

 

“30 quid? What for?” Najia asked curiously from the kitchen, pouring out two mugs of tea.

 

Yaz shot a warning glare at Sonya but she needn’t have bothered because her sister just waved her hand absently, “Oh, you know, stuff.” She winked at Yaz.

 

“Here’s a good one!” She exclaimed before their mum could question further, clicking on the title. 

 

“What have you chosen?” Hakim asked, sitting down at the table with a large stack of toast and an assortment of spreads, Najia joined him and set a mug down in front of her husband as he simultaneously slid a pile of toast to her.

 

“Gilmore Girls,” Sonya replied, glancing at her father. “Where’s my toast?”

 

“At the table, where we eat like civilised humans.” Najia chided her youngest daughter who replied by groaning theatrically and reluctantly moving from the couch to join her parents at the table.

 

“What’s Gilmore Girls?” The Doctor asked Yaz curiously.

 

“You’ve never seen it?” 

 

“No, I don’t watch a lot of TV.” The Doctor replied, looking slightly worried.

 

“Neither do we usually, but Gilmore Girls is the exception, you’ll love it!” Yaz grinned, “They talk  _ a lot  _ and really fast. It’s right up your street.” The Doctor nodded and turned her attention back to the TV. 

 

Yaz was right. She  _ did _ like Gilmore Girls. Quite a lot in fact, they were on the third episode when Sonya paused it.

 

“Present time!” She announced gleefully, she had been lying on the floor watching the show, their parents had claimed the other sofa after they finished eating. Now she stood and motioned for her sister to make room. “Budge up!”

 

“Can we watch more later?” The Doctor asked. Yaz moved her feet back to the ground and wriggled closer to the timelord’s side in an effort to make room for her sister.

 

“Sure, we can marathon it if you’d like.” Yaz warmed at the thought of hours curled up with The Doctor on the purple couch in the TARDIS watching one of her favourite shows.

 

“Brilliant!” The Doctor beamed at her.

 

“Who’s first then?” Hakim asked from his spot on the couch.

 

“Can I go?” The Doctor asked enthusiastically bouncing impatiently on the seat, Yaz knew her well enough by now to recognise the nervousness that pushed through the edge of her voice.

 

“You didn’t have to get us anything, Doctor.” Najia said in a very motherly tone.

 

“Course I did! It’s Christmas! I couldn’t turn up empty handed!” The Doctor leapt up and pulled her haphazardly wrapped presents from under the tree, handing them out quickly and sitting back down next to Yaz, who squeezed her arm reassuringly. 

 

“Where’s Yaz’s present?” Sonya nodded at her sisters empty lap.

 

“We’re doing our presents later.” The Doctor replied dismissively. 

 

“Alone?” Najia asked gave Yaz a meaningful look, and Yaz sighed inwardly.

 

“With Ryan and his granddad.” She was quick to clarify and The Doctor nodded in agreement before gesturing to the present in Najia's lap.

 

“Go on then!” Najia looked down at the wrapped square in her lap.

 

“Open it mum!” Yaz urged, she was just as excited as The Doctor was nervous. Najia complied, pulling the paper away to reveal the painting. She looked at it for a moment before meeting The Doctor’s worried gaze. Yaz could feel her tense against her side, muscles coiled tight with nerves.

 

“It’s beautiful.” Yaz felt her friend relax a little and she smiled at her, seeing the happiness in The Doctor’s face at her mother's approval. “I can hang it in the hall, there’s a spare hook, I was going to hang that picture of you two playing dress up with your cousin Niah.” 

 

“Mum,  _ no! _ ” Yaz protested.

 

“That’s just mean.” Sonya shook her head at their mother as she spoke, “We look like mad clowns!”

 

“I love pictures of baby Yaz!” The Doctor exclaimed, “That one of you with the bubble beard? Amazing!”

 

“You wouldn’t like this one, our cousin brought make up over and we’d never used it before. The result was horrifying.” Yaz shuddered at the memory of horribly over painted faces.

 

“It was cute!” Najia protested and Yaz shook her head.

 

“No. It wasn’t.” She told her mum firmly.

 

“Trust me, that picture is much better.” Sonya agreed seriously, gesturing to the canvas.

 

“It’s really lovely.” Najia agreed, admiring the painting and nodding.

 

“I’m glad you like it, Yaz helped me pick it out, actually she helped me pick them all out.” The Doctor nodded and Yaz smiled at her.

 

“She chose them, I just helped her look.” She clarified, before nodding to her father, “You next dad.”

 

Hakim laughed when he read the print on the front of the apron, “It’s good luck, for when you make your terrible pakora!” The Doctor explained enthusiastically, he nodded and thanked her, pulling the apron over his head and tying it around his back.

 

“It’s our tradition,” Yaz explained at her friends slightly puzzled look, “Whenever we get a present that can be worn we put it on straight away. On my birthday once they gave me five shirts and I wore them all at once. And two jumpers on top of them.”

 

“She looked awful.” Sonya remarked and Yaz laughed at the memory.

 

“I looked like a beach ball.” 

 

The Doctor smiled, nodding,  “Have you got any pictures of that?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows, Yaz shoved her shoulder playfully in response.

 

“Maybe one day I’ll show you. If you're lucky.” She told her before she turned to Sonya, “Your turn.” 

 

Sonya pulled the paper off her present, dropping it on the floor. They had framed the poster before wrapping it and it lay face down on her lap. “Turn it over.” Yaz told her.

 

Sonya turned it over and her jaw dropped, “Are you serious?” she looked up at The Doctor with wide eyes, “Is this real?” 

 

“Do you like it?” She asked nervously, Sonya launched past Yaz and hugged her, almost hitting her sister with the framed poster and pushing her further into The Doctor’s side, crushing her against the alien and the couch.

 

“Geroff!” Yaz mumbled as she pushed her sister away, complied and Sonya sat back down.

 

“It’s amazing! Where did you get it?” Her eyes were wide and she held the poster carefully, as if it was very fragile which was a stark contrast to how she’d acted seconds ago when she nearly poked Yaz’s eye out on the corner of the frame.

 

The Doctor opened her mouth to reply but Yaz cut her off before she could start. 

 

“Online. We ordered it.” If her sister ever found out The Doctor knew Beyoncéshe would never let it go. 

 

“Yep, on the computer! That’s how we got it!” The Doctor nodded in agreement, her hand found Yaz’s between them and she squeezed, Yaz squeezed back.

 

They moved on quickly to the rest of the presents, Najia had been prepared for The Doctor’s visit and had gotten her a murder mystery book, The Doctor was thrilled to even have been thought of and buried her nose in it instantly. Yaz had to confiscate it and drag her off the couch in order to get her to change back into her real clothes after the present opening was over. 

 

It was almost 12:30 now. Yaz’s dad was in the kitchen banging around and her mum had taken her sister to visit their Nani a while ago, leaving Yaz and The Doctor to their own devices. The alien was back in her book and Yaz had continued  _ Summer Falls,  _ the book The Doctor had leant her a while ago. She could feel The Doctor beginning to get restless, they were sitting close on the couch; Yaz leaning up against the alien, book in hand. She could hear the pages of the book flicking and feel The Doctor bouncing her leg, the vibrations making Yaz’s hands wobble slightly as she held her book out in front of her. The bouncing increased gradually until it was becoming hard for Yaz to see the words on the page, she sighed and shut her book, sitting up and turning to her friend.

 

“We’ve got half an hour until we’re supposed to meet the boys, d’you wanna go for a walk?” She suggested, it was probably a good idea to try to get rid of some of the energy she could feel vibrating off The Doctor before they did their present swap.

 

The Doctor leapt up immediately, “Definitely! I love walking, don’t get to walk often, usually its running.” 

 

“Great, let me get my things.” Yaz stood and headed for her bedroom to put away her book and grab her scarf and gloves.

 

A few minutes later they were stepping out into the cold Christmas morning, they stopped just outside the block of flats and Yaz turned to The Doctor.

 

“Where do you wanna go?” She asked, “We can head in the direction of Ryan’s, there's a nice park that way-”

 

She was cut off as The Doctor suddenly grabbed her and pulled her behind a nearby pillar, pushing her back against the cold stone.

 

“Doctor-” She began but The Doctor shushed her, glancing around the pillar, both hands still grasping Yaz’s biceps through her jacket.

 

“What’s wrong? What is it?” She whispered, the alien looked extremely worried.

 

“Someone. Coming this way. Oh  _ no _ , she’s gonna see me.” She turned back to Yaz, panic flitting across her face. Yaz could almost see the cogs turning in her brain, trying desperately to come up with a plan. Yaz heard a woman’s voice behind her, coming closer. The Doctor’s eyes locked on to Yaz’s and her expression changed. “Yaz I have a plan, hopefully it’s okay, no time to explain.” The words tumbled out of her very quickly and then she took a step closer, sandwiching Yaz between her body and the pillar.

 

Yaz had just enough time for a surprised squeak as The Doctor leaned in and kissed her, warm lips sliding over her own. Yaz’s brain shorted out and it took her a second to realise what was happening.  _ You’re being kissed. By The Doctor.  _  Her brain came back online in time to feel The Doctor hesitate against her, Yaz lifted her hands from the wall and moved them upwards, grabbing The Doctors suspenders and pulling her closer, finally returning the kiss. The Doctor reacted enthusiastically, pressing closer to Yaz and kissing her harder. Her tongue began gently probing Yaz’s bottom lip and Yaz opened her mouth slightly, allowing The Doctor entrance. She moaned in the back of her throat as the soft warm, tongue slid into her mouth. It felt like heaven, she had been waiting so long for this and finally, finally it was-

 

“Yaz?” 

 

The Doctor stepped back at the noise, letting go of Yaz and turning towards the voice in one swift motion. Yaz was still leaning against the pillar, slightly dazed. She jumped right into high alert when she caught sight of the person who’d spoken.

 

_ Fuck. _

 

Najia Khan was staring at them from the pavement, her eyebrows almost invisible in her hairline; Sonya was standing next to her, holding out her phone and grinning wickedly, “This is so going on Instagram!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not even midnight yet! Surely that's some kind of record for me!  
> thanks to Elanor for betaing. The wearing presents thing is a legit tradition my family have, no joke.


	6. Christmas Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yaz and the Doctor are caught by Najia and Sonya and then go for a walk

“Mum!” Yaz squeaked, as she quickly stepped away from the pillar. She was hyper aware of her body, her skin burned where the Doctor had touched it and her lips felt swollen.

 

The Doctor didn’t even look at Najia and Sonya. Instead she was already scanning the area, her shoulders tense. She looked like a startled animal, leaning forward on the balls of her feet, ready to run at the slightest sign of danger. She stepped sideways and took a final glance around the pillar, her shoulders relaxed and she moved backwards. She settled down on her feet properly and finally faced Najia. 

 

Was she just a little bit closer than usual? Yaz tried not to think about it too much. Her fingers twitched, aching to slip into the Doctor's hand, to offer some comfort to her still panicked friend. She resisted the urge, instead she shoved her hands into her pockets.

 

“Tell me again you’re not seeing her?” Najia challenged, her accusing stare made the hairs on the back of Yaz’s neck stand up. She swallowed nervously, how was she supposed to explain this? She had been caught red handed with the Doctor’s tongue down her throat. Sonya had it on  _ video _ . 

 

_ Oh no. _

 

Yaz turned on her sister. Good job Yaz, concentrate on the things you actually know how to deal with first, leave explaining complicated situations to your mum for later. 

 

“Don’t you  _ dare _ post that video.” She glared at Sonya, clenching her fists by her side. 

 

Sonya just grinned at her, “You can’t stop me.”

 

Yaz took a threatening step forward but she needn’t have bothered because her mother turned on Sonya.

 

“You will delete that video now, Sonya. There’s obviously a reason your sister has been keeping this secret and you  _ will not _ break her trust or violate her privacy like that!” Najia’s voice was firm and authoritative. Not to be messed with. Go Najia.

 

Sonya rolled her eyes, “Fine.” She pocketed her phone, even she knew not to push her mother when she used that voice.

 

“No, you need to  _ delete  _ it Sonya!” Yaz protested, her breathing began to speed up and she felt her chest tighten, tears began to burn at the edges of her eyes. She pulled her hands from her coat and squeezed them into balls by her sides.

 

“Not a problem, Yaz.” The Doctor already had her sonic out and was pointing it at Sonya’s coat pocket, her phone buzzed and the light flashed through the fabric. Ironically she seemed to calm down the second Yaz began to panic. She stepped a little closer to Yaz, their hands brushing against each other. She was trying subtly to comfort her, Yaz realised, obviously not wanting to initiate too much contact given the situation they were in. Yaz unballed her fist and slid her hand into the Doctor’s, she felt calm spread up her arm at the contact, her panic receding almost immediately.

 

“What-” Sonya started quickly pulling out the device and examining it.

 

“Oh, I wouldn’t bother, it’s gone.” The Doctor informed her cheerfully, tucking the sonic away into her coat. 

 

“Right, Yaz we should probably leave, gotta meet the boys soon!” She pulled Yaz away from her family, “Bye Yaz’s mum!”

 

“We will talk about this later!” Najia called after them and Yaz gave a somewhat guilty wave in reply as she followed the Doctor down the path. She was not looking forward to that conversation.

 

They reached the park in a matter of minutes, boots squelching in the old snow, dirt from the previous day lending brown streaks through the now off white crystals, just starting to melt. They narrowly avoided a puddle as cold wind whipped around them, it bit their cheeks and sent the Doctor’s hair all over the place. Yaz moved closer to her unconsciously, leaning into her companions warmth.

 

The park was surprisingly empty, people presumably avoiding the cold and the newly forming slush. A small family were on the far side of the pond, their laughter mixing with the rustling of trees as they attempted to fly a kite (presumably a Christmas present) and an old couple were walking down the path opposite them, still quite far away. 

 

They walked quickly, the Doctor glancing nervously around occasionally, apparently on the lookout for any more mysterious people to hide from. Yaz probably wouldn’t mind if there were. She wouldn’t protest to being pushed up against a tree by the Doctor. 

 

The couple were drawing closer, the woman was wrapped up against the cold in a bright pink coat and leaning against her husband. They slowed as they approached, they were murmuring quietly to each other.

 

“Merry Christmas!” The man smiled warmly, breaking the murmurs to greet Yaz and the Doctor, his wife waved cheerfully from her place next to him.

 

“Merry Christmas.” Yaz nodded, smiling at them as they passed each other on the path, the small space causing the Doctor and Yaz to press tighter against each others sides in order to avoid the slush on the sides of the path.

 

Yaz almost missed the look the woman gave them and the small smile crossed that her face. She suddenly realised the Doctor was still holding her hand, she hadn’t let go since leaving Najia and Sonya back at the flat. She also noticed how close they were, not that she minded.

 

“Remember when we were like that?” Yaz barely caught the whisper as the couple headed past them down the path. 

 

The old man chuckled in response, “They’re very sweet.” He agreed quietly, but not quietly enough for Yaz to miss it. 

 

She tried to push down the hope rising in her chest. Maybe all these people were making the same assumption for a reason. Maybe it wasn’t just a coincidence. And the  _ kiss.  _ The Doctor had seemed pretty enthusiastic about it, besides, who kisses their friend to avoid someone? Although you never could tell with the Doctor. Her brain always going one hundred miles a minute and she tended to act first and explain later.

 

They haven't spoken since the flat and the silence was eating away at Yaz until finally, about halfway through the park, she couldn’t take it anymore. She was going to drive herself mad with all this thinking. Better to grab the bull by the horns now than let herself wonder forever. 

 

_ It’ll be fine.  _

 

_ Probably. _

 

“Doctor.” She tugged the Doctor to a stop under a large oak tree near the edge of the pond, stepping off the path and avoiding another puddle. Yaz pulled her around so their eyes met, “We should talk about what just happened.” 

 

“They were just old people,” The Doctor looked at her, puzzled, “They seemed nice. Or did you notice something weird about them? Because once there were these old people I met who had been taken over by Eknodine, they had eye stalks in their mouths and sprayed poison at my friend which turned him into dust so then his wife drove us into the shed but it was in a dream reality so it turned out to not be real in the end-”

 

“No, Doctor,” Yaz made a mental not to get her to expand on that story later, “About before that, back outside the flat?”  

 

_ You can do this Yaz, deep breaths, try to stay calm. _

 

The Doctor let go of Yaz’s hand and looked down at the ground, shoving her hands into her pockets. Her eyebrows drawn together, she took a step backwards and Yaz tried not to be dissapointed at the sudden space between them. The Doctor was pushing half melted piles of snow around with her boots and she looked up at Yaz, eyes full of remorse.

 

“Oh Yaz, I’m really sorry, I panicked! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I’m so sorry, I won’t happen again, I swear!”  

 

She pulled her left hand from her pocket and pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes as she spoke, Yaz caught her hand on its way down, linking their fingers together. A mirror of earlier, Yaz was now the one to use physical comfort to calm her panicked friend. That was the only reason she grabbed the Doctor’s hand. Totally.

 

“Doctor, It’s okay, you didn’t make me uncomfortable, not at all.” She flushed with the admission. Okay, so maybe not the  _ only  _ reason.

 

“Sure?” The Doctor looked up at her, eyes wide with worry. 

 

“Sure.”  Yaz squeezed the Doctor’s hand. They had been saying that to each other often, Yaz noticed. She liked it, it was as if they had their own secret way of communicating.

 

Yaz could feel her heartbeat in her ears and she swallowed thickly, “Actually, Doctor, um, you know-” She took a deep breath, her heartbeat sped up. Go on Yaz, you can do it.

 

“I wouldn’t mind if-” She was cut off by a familiar voice yelling at them from the top of the hill. 

 

“Yaz! Doctor!”

 

Yaz dropped the Doctor’s hand and turned quickly, unsure if she was annoyed or grateful for the interruption. Ryan and Graham were heading towards them through the park. Ryan was ahead, waving enthusiastically as Graham jogged half heartedly behind. He wasn’t the most enthusiastic about physical activity, especially if it was optional.

 

“Alright then?” Ryan asked as he approached, coming to a stop next to Yaz, “We thought we’d go for a walk before you guys came over.”

 

Yaz could feel her face heating up and she tried to look anywhere but the Doctor, “Yeah, we thought so too.”

 

“Um,” Ryan hesitated, eyes flicking between Yaz and the Doctor, who was intently studying the ground, apparently very interested in a small pile of slush at the base of the oak. “Have I interrupted something?” 

 

Graham caught up at that moment, coming to a stop a few feet away, “Merry Christmas, all!” He greeted them cheerfully.

 

“Graham, brilliant!” The Doctor bounced forward towards Graham, stopping at the last moment and teetering awkwardly on the edge of her feet. “Shall we go? Christmas in the TARDIS? Never had a Christmas in The TARDIS! Very exciting!” With that she bounded off up the hill towards Graham and Ryan’s house. 

 

“Why are we always running?” moaned Graham as he turned to follow her, Yaz turned as well but Ryan grabbed her arm, slowing her down.

 

“Yaz?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Is something going on with you two then?” He glanced meaningfully between Yaz and the Doctor’s retreating back.

 

Yaz hesitated,  _ Was there something going on?  _ She didn’t know anymore. She had been so convinced that her feelings were one sided but now-

 

“Right, well if there is, I’m happy for you. You’ve been mooning over each other enough, I was starting to get sick of it.” Ryan grinned at her.

 

“I don’t  _ moon _ ! “ Yaz protested, wacking him on the arm as they headed up the hill, she stopped as she registered what’d he’d said. “What do you mean ‘each other’?”

 

“Oh, please, you can’t have not noticed! She’s always staring at you with those big puppy dog eyes. She’s smitten.”

 

“I don’t know what youre talking about.” Yaz continued up the hill,  _ please don’t go giving me false hope, it’s only going to get worse and I need to talk to her properly before that happens.  _  She silently pleaded him.

 

“Yaz, she gave you ten points the other day for just standing there! You weren’t even doing anything!” Ryan followed closely behind her.

 

“She gives out points for no reason all the time! She gave you points last week for pointing out the colour of the sky!”

 

“Yeah, on an  _ alien planet _ ! She gives you points for just standing there  _ and  _ you get way more than any of us, trust me I’ve been keeping track.”

 

They headed up the garden path to Ryan’s house and Yaz was saved from having to answer by the Doctor’s head popping out of the front door.

 

“C’mon Yaz! They made us lunch!” Her head disappeared back into the house and Yaz followed, stepping through the front door after her friend, grateful for an excuse to end the conversation.

  
  
  
  


The kitchen was at the back of the house, with a large window over the sink that looked out onto the back garden, Yaz could see the TARDIS sitting just outside, next to an outdoor table and chairs and one of those swinging seats Yaz had loved as a kid (and still loved now to be honest). The dark blue of the time machine matched nicely with the surrounding trees and the splashes of colour from the flowers in the  garden bed behind it.

 

The kitchen itself was small and welcoming, there was a wooden island counter in the middle of it with a few stools on one side. It was currently laden with covered plates and bowls, Yaz could smell roast vegetables and something probably full of cinnamon. Cupboards with small painted flowers around the edges lined the walls and there was a similar floral patterned door off to the side Yaz assumed was a pantry.

 

Graham had his back to Yaz and Ryan as they entered, hovering over the oven. The floral apron and matching oven mitts he was wearing had probably just been put on minutes ago, the apron hadn’t even been tired at the back yet. Yaz smiled as she noticed the embroidered name on one of the loose ties that hung down the side, the apron had belonged to Grace.

 

The Doctor interrupted her train of thought as she popped up from the fridge, holding two cartons of eggnog.

 

“It’s all safe for you to eat, Yaz! I already asked.” She checked the back of a carton as she spoke, skimming the ingredients. “This is safe too, no alcohol.” 

 

“Thanks Doctor,” Yaz nodded at her, smiling, ever since the Doctor had found out about Yaz’s dietary restrictions she had been extremely careful and considerate, always making sure there was food that was safe for Yaz to eat wherever they went. She would always take the time to point out the ‘safe’ foods for Yaz, or hiding snacks in one of her many pockets just in case.

 

“Are we eating here then, or in the TARDIS?” Yaz casually leant against the kitchen table, watching the Doctor as she placed the cartons down before turning and beginning to open random cupboards, presumably searching for cups. Ryan hopped up onto one of the kitchen stools, lifting up the corner of a tea towel covered plate and pulling out a christmas cookie. The Doctor’s cookie senses were apparently turned up to full because she turned almost immediately and put her hand out. Ryan obliged, retrieving a second cookie and handing it to her, she gleefully took a bite before turning back to her search. 

 

“In the TARDIS we thought, what with the tree being there and all.” Graham pulled off his oven mitts and placed them on the kitchen counter next to the cartons of egg nog the Doctor had put down a moment ago, taking a second now to tie up his apron.

 

The Doctor handed Yaz the uneaten half of her cookie and turned back to the cupboard she had just opened, pulling out four cups. Yaz took a bite of the cookie, breathing in the source of the cinnamon smell, it was good.

 

“Brilliant! Let’s get a shift on then!” The Doctor loaded her arms up with the cups and eggnog cartons and grabbed the christmas cookie plate in her free hand before she headed out the back door. 

 

Yaz shook her head at the Doctor’s retreating back, smiling. Ryan appeared next to her, handing her another covered plate.

 

“Yaz can you take this to the TARDIS? We’ll be along in a minute.” He shuffled awkwardly and gave her a weird look. “Or maybe, you know,  _ a few _ minutes.”

 

“Why’re you being weird?” Yaz asked, peering at her friend.

 

“I’m not.” He protested, “We’ve just got some stuff to finish up, we’ll bring the rest of the food in in about fifteen minutes, probably. And we’ll knock. Loud.”

 

He gave her another weird look and Yaz finally caught on.

 

“ _ Ryan!”  _  She blushed furiously. “We won’t be- it’s not like-”

 

“I’m not asking any questions.” Ryan held his hands up in front of him. “I’m just telling you you have about 15 minutes of uninterrupted time with the Doctor.”

 

Yaz hesitated, torn between giving Ryan more reason to believe there was something going on and the opportunity to talk to the Doctor alone. She sighed, of course her crush won out, besides, there was a tiny bit of her that liked the fact that everyone thought they were together.

 

“Make it twenty,” She sighed as she let the kitchen door swing closed behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your comments and kudos! i really appreciate it. Thanks to Kate for beating. I've been working 15 hours a day between both my jobs this month which is why this upload is so late. Love you all


	7. An Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor reveals who she saw that morning

 

 

“Doctor?” Yaz entered the blue doors, stepping over the familiar threshold and letting them swing shut behind her. She stamped her feet in an effort to dislodge the small amount of snow that had collected on the soles of her shoes during the short walk through the garden. As she looked up into the console room she blinked in surprise.

 

 The console had moved to the right side and the room itself had doubled in size, the left half now an extended version of what was usually around the sides of the raised console platform. Hexagonal lights were fixed in a honeycomb pattern across the walls, shining with every colour of the rainbow, the fairy lights that adorned the large crystal pillars now stretched over the whole roof, creating a sparkling web of colour overhead. The TARDIS had really gone all out with the rainbows, Yaz mused.

 

The massive Christmas tree had moved to the new space and a wooden dining table with four matching chairs sat in front of it. Yaz recognised the cups and cartons of egg nog the Doctor had found earlier in the middle of the table, the plate of cookies sat next to them, though Yaz suspected it was considerably lighter than before. She put her plate down on the table and looked around again for the Doctor. 

 

“Doctor?”

 

Nothing.

 

“Where is she?” Yaz sighed and looked up at the curved ceiling of the TARDIS. It seemed to whir, almost as if it were responding and the door at the end of the room opened. The hexagonal lights on the walls pulsed, each shining brighter in turn making a wave like effect pointing towards the door. Obviously the ship was directing Yaz somewhere, she hoped to the Doctor.

 

Yaz followed the lights though the open door into the ship. The lights continued to pulse, leading her down hallways and past doors. One or two she recognised, the library, the kitchen, the living room, the games room Ryan had claimed as his. After a few twists and turns she was led to a large frosted glass set of double doors, the kind you might find in a hotel. Yaz could feel warmth from the other side sleeping through and the doors glowed a golden yellow through the panes of glass. The lights on the walls changed direction, pulsing towards the door.

 

“Are you sure?” Yaz asked the TARDIS.

 

The lights pulsed faster.

 

Yaz took that to mean yes and pushed the door open.

 

She was met with the pleasant sounds of waves gently breaking on the shore, a breeze brought the smell of the ocean and faint sounds of seabirds. Yaz blinked. She was standing on a beach. Or at least, something that looked like a beach. Golden sand stretched in front of her in a gentle slope towards turquoise waves and off to the right was a small grove of palm trees. Yaz stepped into the room (was it a room?) and almost tripped over a pair of brown boots. She recognised those boots. Yaz looked up, scanning the beach properly this time and she saw her. The Doctor was down the beach to Yaz’s right, looking out at the waves, her knees tucked under her chin and her arms wrapped around her calves, pulling them into her body. Yaz quickly unlaced her own boots and shed her jacket and scarf, leaving them on the ground next to the Doctors boots, before making her way over the sand towards the alien.

 

The Doctor didn’t turn around, though she must have heard Yaz coming, the sand made soft crunching sounds under her feet as she walked towards her. 

 

“Are you okay?” Yaz asked softly when she was close enough.

 

The Doctor was silent for a second.

 

“No.” She replied quietly, eyes fixed on the waves, not looking at Yaz.

 

“Do you need to be alone?” Yaz ventured, hovering awkwardly next to the Doctor, any hope of talking about feelings chased from her brain by concern for her friend.

 

The Doctor didn’t reply, eyes still fixed on the blue waves in front of her. Yaz took her lack of answer as a yes and turned to go.

 

“I’m here if yo-” She began but was cut off by the Doctor grabbing her wrist.

 

“No, Yaz,” She looked up at her and Yaz’s heart broke. The Doctor’s eyes were full of tears, “Stay. Please?” Her voice broke on the last word and her bottom lip trembled.

 

“Of course,” Yaz said softly, sinking down onto the sand and gathering the Doctor into her arms as she started to cry, “I’m here.” 

 

The Doctor leaned into her heavily, burying her face into Yaz’s shoulder as Yaz rubbed small comforting circles on her back. The Doctor was sobbing now, her whole body shaking, she clung to Yaz like a lifeline. Yaz just held her, letting her cry, quietly whispering comforting things to her until the sobs began to subside, finally turning to hiccups and then small, shuddering breaths.

 

They stayed like that for a few minutes, the Doctor resting her head on Yaz’s chest, wrapped up in her arms.

 

“It was Donna.” the Doctor finally spoke, her voice still shaking from the aftermath of the sobs, her voice quiet and haggard.

 

“Who’s Donna?” Yaz asked quietly, stroking the Doctors hair.

 

The Doctor pulled away, her hair was a little messy and her eyes were rimmed with red, she brought a hand up and wiped tears from her cheeks as she spoke.

 

“Donna was my best friend, she was the person I was hiding from.”

 

“Why would you hide from your best friend?” 

 

“It’s complicated.” The Doctor sighed, “Donna- she saved the planet, she was amazing. But in the process she sort of took on some of my DNA and as a result she got parts of me. It’s hard to explain- she absorbed my mind- a human with the mind of a timelord. She couldn’t handle it. No one would be able too, a timelord’s mind, it’s much too big and complex to fit inside a human. So I had to wipe her memory, every memory of me and our travels together- our whole friendship, everything we shared, everything we said and did. All of it, gone. The Donna that I knew, she’s gone now. And she can’t come back because if she remembered me, if she saw me, and recognised me, or the TARDIS- her whole mind would burn up and she would die.” She paused and took a deep breath, tears welling in her eyes again.

 

“That was who I saw today, that’s why I had to hide. She’s out there, she’s happy and well, and alive and she’s Donna. She was right there. My best friend, meters away from me and I couldn’t even let her look at me.”

 

“Did she look happy?” Yaz asked, taking the Doctor’s hand in hers.

 

The Doctor looked up at Yaz and gave her a watery smile, “Yes.”

 

“That's good then, isn't it?” Yaz squeezed her hand and the Doctor nodded in reply.

 

“She has kids Yaz, two of them,” She chuckled shakily, “I bet she’s an ace mum. Those kids wouldn’t get away with anything.”

 

“She sounds amazing.”

 

“She was. Donna Noble, the most important person in the universe,” She leaned into Yaz’s side, resting her head on her companions shoulder, “and blimey could she shout.” The Doctor chuckled again. 

 

They sat together, the Doctor leaning on Yaz, staring out at the waves. 

 

Finally the Doctor sat up, “We’d better get back,” she stood and offered Yaz her hand, Yaz took it and let the Doctor help her up. “The boys’ll be wondering where we are.”

 

Yaz nodded, brushing sand from her clothes, the Doctor began walking towards the door but Yaz reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her and pulling her back around.

 

“Doctor.” 

 

“Yaz?” the Doctor was looking her right in the eyes, concern written all over her face. 

 

“If you ever want to talk, I’m here for you, even if you don’t want to talk, if you just want a hug or-” She cut herself off abruptly at the look on the Doctors face, unable to read her expression. Her eyebrows were drawn together again and she was staring intensely at Yaz.

 

Suddenly Yaz had a face full of the Doctor’s hair, the timelord had launched herself at Yaz and wrapped her arms around her.

 

“Thanks.” Yaz could feel the Doctor’s hot breath on her neck as she spoke and oh my god it was doing things to her. She felt a familiar heat beginning to pool in her stomach. Deep breaths Yaz, now is not the time. 

 

She patted the blonde on the back soothingly. 

 

“DOCTOR! YAZ!” Ryans voice echoed through the cracked open door, apparently Yaz hadn’t closed it behind her properly when she entered. “WE ARE COMING IN NOW! I'M OPENING THE DOOR!”

 

“Why's he doing that?” The Doctor asked, stepping out of their embrace. Yaz’s fingers twitched involuntarily at the loss of contact and she quickly shoved them in her pockets. 

 

“He’s warning us he's coming in.” She replied without thinking. 

 

The Doctor’s face scrunched up in confusion, “Why’s he need to do that?” 

 

Yaz blushed, “Uh, I think he might think we're doing… stuff.”

 

The Doctor looked more confused, “What kind of stuff?” 

 

Yaz started panicking and blushed harder, casting around for something to say that wouldn't make this situation more awkward that it already was. 

 

“Oh you know, uh… swimming?” she finished lamely. 

 

Swimming? Really Yasmin? She could have punched herself. But the Doctor's face lit up. 

 

“We should go swimming! This beach is nice but there's one on a holiday planet in the forty-eighth century where it snows but its warm! Warm snow! Well technically it's a rare chemical in the snow that reacts with our skin and makes it heat up. The more actually evaporates on contact, which usually would get but they developed this cream - “

 

“YOU TWO BETTER GET OFF EACH OTHER AND GET OUT HERE OR WERE DOING PRESENTS WITHOUT YOU!” Ryan yelled, probably from the console room. 

 

“DON'T YOU DARE!” The Doctor immediately yelled back, sprinting up the beach. She almost face planted trying to grab her boots without stopping but righted herself at the last minute, bending down to retrieve the boot she had accidentally tossed towards the door as her arms had flailed about in an effort to regain her balance. 

 

 “C'mon Yaz! I'll race you to the console room!” and she took off. 

 

“Cheater!” Yaz called after her, scooping up her discarded belongings and racing after the blonde. Their laughter echoed through the TARDIS corridors as they ran. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey its been a while. This was going to be half a chapter but I haven't written the next bit yet so it's its own thing now.  
> This is for everyone who was confused. You weren't meant to find out who the doctor saw until now. 
> 
> I haven't had time to write recently. I've just started a trip around Europe at the start of March and I'll be doing so for the next six or so months. I'll do my best to update when I can but just know I haven't given up on this story.  
> As I have no beta so if there are any mistakes point them out and I'll fix them.


End file.
